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Theo Lemann

Theo Lemann

(he/him)

LPC
10 years of experience
Virtual

I often think of therapy as similar to mountaineering: We tether to another person as we build trust and explore the natural landscape of our humanness. At times treacherous and scary; at times awe-inspiring and profound. The point is not to curate this expanse, but instead to build familiarity so that we can be more sure-footed as we walk through our lives with increasing skill... Comfort and ease within the chaos and uncertainty that can be everyday life.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

I always offer a free 15 minute phone consultation to gauge whether our personalities mesh and I can be a good fit for a prospective client's needs. If a client decides to move forward, I will facilitate an intake session that provides basic groundwork of where sessions might be focused, present / historical factors to be considered, and more clear idea of what goals can be put in place as a North Star to check in on periodically. Typical sessions are open-ended and conversational. I will ask a lot of questions and follow my client's lead, while also bringing focus to obstacles or points of growth. My approach is always to hold my perspective as hypothesis, as I believe my professional assessment is a collaborative process that honors my client's wisdom and ability to understand themselves.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

I feel my greatest strength as a therapist is my ability to hold space for a client to openly and non-judgmentally witness the intertwined complexity of their experience. This openness is also balanced with a decisive focus when useful, so as not to leave clients feeling lost and directionless swimming in emotions and trauma. I am interested in building understanding while also finding skillful opportunities to exact change in life.

Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.

I work well with adults who are interested in exploring well below the surface of incidental thought patterns, emotional textures, and the behavioral cycles that result from them. Building a narrative framework for mapping themes is always a good start, but as the work continues I strive to identify the underlying and often unconscious connections between facets of my client's lives that are perpetuating cycles of harm. While skill-building the "toolbox" is a valuable part of navigating this process safely and "pruning" hedges, I am invested in working deeply to uproot the traumas, problematic cultural narratives, self-assessments, and so much more that keep us bewildered.

About Theo Lemann

Identifies as

Specializes in

Serves ages

Licensed in

Accepts

Appointments

Virtual

My treatment methods

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

Thoughts. Feelings. Behaviors. CBT focuses on how these three elements interact to dictate our lives. Though they form a tightly bound cycle of influence with one another, each can be an entry-point into loosening what may seem like a dense cyclone of reactivity. Certain emotions may yield particular thoughts, which will determine the ideas and impulses that guide behaviors. Experiences may be interpreted in ways that yield various “stuck” emotions, therefore maintaining unhelpful patterns of thought and ideas about ourselves. CBT can be a helpful framework for understanding how patterns of thought, emotion, and actions are making us entrenched in suffering.

Motivational Interviewing

Much of the fundamental drive of psychotherapy is change. Whether it is feedback from people (romantic partners, family, friends) or systems (professional, legal, financial), it is often in relation to outside forces that we begin to recognize that our current patterns are not working. Motivational Interviewing brings focus to the stages of change that we can fluctuate between during the process of personal growth, especially by being realistic that humans do not move in a straight line. As our growth displays a natural complexity of progress, stagnation, setbacks, and relapse, this approach can be a useful lens to reconsider motivation to rekindle and direct our efforts skillfully.

Mindfulness-Based Therapy

Mindfulness can be a powerful practice of bringing simple awareness to the contents of our thoughts and feelings. As this is cultivated, one can begin to recognize and build comfort in the “space” between them. This can yield a stronger sense of agency in life as cyclical thought patterns and reactive behaviors are interrupted. We cannot control what we think or feel, but we can control our response to both.

Trauma Informed Care

Traumatic experiences - from single incidents to complex and prolonged exposure - can have a devastating impact on our lives by fundamentally changing us without our choosing. Our altered worldview, self-view, and interpretations of events often lead to depression, anxiety, and an overall loss of feeling safety in our bodies and the world. Processing through trauma and its effects on our relationships with ourselves and others can help free us up from ways we feel stuck. This work can be an empowering journey of taking back our narrative to repair wounds from loss of agency and selfhood.