LCSW, 8 years of experience
To begin with, I acknowledge the vulnerability and courage it takes for anyone that carries pain to confront their fears and hurt with a complete stranger. With that, I would like to give attention to your bravery for seeking support and for considering me to join you on this leg of your healing journey. I am Christine Sarkissian, owner and clinician at our continuously evolving practice. I personally and professionally value growth and evolution. In order to grow and evolve, I know that I have to feel deserving of the changes that will strengthen my self worth, make the choice to learn new information to integrate into what my brain and nervous system has already learned, and I must desire new seeds to be planted in the garden of my mind to return to a place of love for myself, the world and others. As we can recognize the obvious imperfections of the world, others around us, and within ourselves, we can also return to an innocent place in our heart, mind and spirit that gives us permission to be perfectly imperfect. To be perfect by our definition is to be mature, fully developed in the wholeness and completeness of one’s heart, blameless of self and others, wholeheartedly devoted to truth, and placing LOVE at the center as the fulfillment of perfection. Our goal in therapy is to help support people in growing a beautiful brand new garden within the mind. A garden needs clean soil, sun, water, a healthy seed, and consistent attention and care to grow. Over the years I have found that my garden needs truth, honesty, faith, happiness, peace and consistency to blossom and bloom. What do you need to grow your garden?
In our first session we will take our time in identifying your values, desires, needs, and what compromises we will have to make in order for you to be able to regrow the garden of your mind. If time permits, we will utilize a timeline method to explore your roots, essentially uncovering hardships, and supportive factors that created the identities, beliefs and values that have helped you survive the pain of your past. I will ask several clarifying questions to understand your subconscious belief system, conscious belief system, behaviors, presenting symptoms, emotional capacity, and your true willingness to let go of the past to return to a place of love in your heart.
My greatest strengths as a provider have included the following. I am able to consistently recognize the importance of self reflection and introspection, which translates into recognizing the needs of my clients. This helps me meet my client's exactly where they are, emotionally, mentally, and in their lives. I pride myself on being psychologically flexible, this allows me to provide space for grace to my client's rather than placing pressure on my client's to meet unrealistic expectations. Life is lived in the grey and trauma therapy is not an easy pursuit. Juggling life's responsibilities and addressing trauma can be taxing, though priceless in its' worth. The goal in trauma therapy is to be consistent, space for grace is essential for this journey. Lastly, asking for frequent feedback from my client's about their experience and needs throughout therapy has been the cornerstone of my personal and professional growth. I make it a point to increase my own emotional intelligence, active listening skills, and communication skills through feedback I receive from my clients. Our therapeutic services are rooted in neuropsychology, social psychology, as well as subconscious automatic and unconscious thinking patterns. We use our created framework to simplify the process of therapy: TRIPLE A 1) AWARENESS 2) ACCEPTANCE 3) ACTION WE OFFER INDIVIDUAL AND COUPLES THERAPY: *INDIVIDUAL THERAPY SERVICES -EMPHASIS ON HEALING REJECTION/ABANDONMENT WOUNDS, RECREATING AN IDENTITY FOUND IN PERFECT LOVE -EMPHASIS ON REWIRING THE SUBCONSCIOUS USING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGY AND ANCIENT TEACHINGS WHILE ADDRESSING ALL TRAUMA’S THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO SELF REJECTION AND SELF PROTECTION USING POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND EMDR. *COUPLES THERAPY SERVICES - UTILIZATION OF THE GOTTMAN APPROACH TO COUPLES THERAPY -HEAVY FOCUS ON ATTACHMENT THEORY TO ADDRESS -COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY TO CHALLENGE DISTORTED INDIVIDUAL VIEWS AND PERCETION OF PARTNER -POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY TO FOCUS ON THE COUPLES STRENGTHS AND WELL BEING TO IMPROVE RELATIONSHIPS BY CULTIVATING POSITIVE EMOTIONS, COMMUNICAITON AND APPRECIATION FOR ONE ANOTHER. -INCLUSION OF ANCIEST WISDOM LITERATURE WHICH CONSISTS OF THE COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE, INSIGHTS, AND TEACHINGS PASSED DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS, EMPHASIZING TIMELESS SPIRITUAL, ETHICAL, AND PRACTICAL PRINCIPLES. (EMPHASIS ON BIBLICAL TRADITIONS, CONFUSIANISM, GREEK PHILOSOPHY, AND TAOISM). Here are two articles I have also written from my perspective and life experiences with EMDR. Vulnerability is the key to change and the return trip back to self love. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/emdr-session-1-diary-therapist-one-time-guy-reflected-sarkissian https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/emdr-hippy-treatment-evidence-based-practice-common-sarkissian
The people I am best positioned to serve is anyone who no longer wants to live in the pain of their past, who wants to reconnect with the inner child that needs great love and healing, and people who are eager to learn to love themselves through truth, honesty, acceptance, peace, and happiness. Consistency will also be a key factor for committing to trauma therapy, therefore a willingness to prioritize sessions once a week for 53 minutes to focus on yourself because you deserve to give yourself the time and space, attention and love will be imperative. Typically, client's that seek therapy services with me have been in talk therapy treatment for a while, have have experienced multiple therapists, and are nearly ready to give up on therapy. I take a wholistic approach to therapy, identify root causes of present day dysfunctions and make plans with my client's to address what lies underneath the surface level presentation of people's challenges. Most of my client's seek my therapy services because they have great awareness of their challenges and trauma's and are stuck in between awareness and acceptance which hinders reaching the next step which is the action step of reprocessing the root causes of the trauma. If you are looking to address the root cause of your present day pain, our services may be a perfect fit for you.
Most client's will utilize EMDR if they have attended talk therapy sessions in the past and have realized they are "stuck". They have become aware of their trauma and now need a modality that will help them move past their past rather than continuing to learn how to cope with living in their past.
Gottman approach, Subconscious reconditioning, Relationship Life Therapy techniques, Solution Focused Brief Therapy approach, Positive Psychology, ancient wisdom and Christian faith based approach.
1 rating with written reviews
February 22, 2025
She said something that pissed me off (keep in mind, I almost never get mad.) I told her I was able to accept my parent's divorce as what was best for them when I was 6 y/o. She said "heh, yeah, maybe looking back right. Theres no way that couldve actually happened because the brain does not develop that type of abstract thinking until 10 years old." But I wasn't lying! My own MOM even remembers me accepting it when I was 6! (Yes, I confirmed with her). Me getting angry did point us in a new direction, but I still feel my experience was highly invalidated. I know some therapy methods try to keep people slightly emotionally agitated so they can't just defuse any digging. I'm okay with a little discomfort. What I'm NOT okay with is invalidation, trust in textbooks over my real life experiences. I need to meet with her again to see the consistencies in how she carries herself before I decide if she's right or not.