Hello, My name is Joyce, Do you feel pulled in a million directions, unable to fit it all in? Are you struggling to keep up with your relationships, work and health? Is it hard to be kind to yourself? When LIFE HAPPENS sometimes you need help from a professional to get back on track. I also help individuals with life difficulties including anxiety, stress, depression, mood disorders, life choices, life changes, and things that can be overwhelming. Together, we can identify what's not working and what is working and get you back to balance. We'll use a holistic reality-based approach, addressing the needs of your mind, body and spirit. Seeking therapy can feel scary but you're making the right choice. You deserve a safe space to heal and grow. In our sessions together, I'll meet you with compassion and evidence-based techniques so you can overcome the hang-ups, habits or unhealthy thoughts/behaviors that are holding you back. Let's work together!
In our first session we will discuss background information and current issues. We will discuss how to tackle the challenges that you are experiencing with strengths that you have and I will ask you what your goals are and what is the priority for you. This is your time and your sessions. I am here for you to help you heal and gain the skills you need to overcome. I will tell you my expectations of you for our sessions and I will ask your expectations of me. I will also ask about prior therapy and what worked and did not work. I try to start a good therapeutic relationship with the first session . If you feel that you don't "click" with me, please feel free to let me know so that I can refer you to another counselor. As I stated previously, this is your time, your healing, your journey, you need to have someone that you can be comfortable with in order to get the most out of your sessions, experience and healing.
I feel that I am very good at meeting people where they are. I try to be collaborative and work with you to develop a plan to accomplish what you want from therapy. I will be very blunt and realistic with you in session. I try to do this in a soft manner but I will not be a "yes man". As I stated previously, I have expectations for the sessions such as coming prepared and being as open and honest as possible. I am a good listener and feel that I am good at "reading between the lines". I am empathetic and can sense when something is off after getting to know a person. I am diligent and work very hard to be the best therapist I can be for my clients.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. CBT is based on several core principles, including: Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking. Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them, thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives. CBT treatment usually involves efforts to change thinking patterns. These strategies might include: Learning to recognize one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality. Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others. Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations. Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities. CBT treatment also usually involves efforts to change behavioral patterns. These strategies might include: Facing one’s fears instead of avoiding them. Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others. Learning to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body. Not all CBT will use all of these strategies. Rather, the psychologist and patient/client work together, in a collaborative fashion, to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy. CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals learn to be their own therapists. Through exercises in the session as well as “homework” exercises outside of sessions, patients/clients are helped to develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior. CBT therapists emphasize what is going on in the person’s current life, rather than what has led up to their difficulties. A certain amount of information about one’s history is needed, but the focus is primarily on moving forward in time to develop more effective ways of coping with life.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a type of talk therapy (psychotherapy). It’s based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but it’s specially adapted for people who experience emotions very intensely. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of talk therapy that helps people understand how thoughts affect emotions and behaviors. “Dialectical” means combining opposite ideas. DBT focuses on helping people accept the reality of their lives and their behaviors, as well as helping them learn to change their lives, including their unhelpful behaviors. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is especially effective for people who have difficulty managing and regulating their emotions. DBT has proven to be effective for treating and managing a wide range of mental health conditions, including: Borderline personality disorder (BPD). Self-harm. Suicidal behavior. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Substance use disorder. Eating disorders, specifically binge eating disorder and bulimia. Depression. Anxiety. It’s important to note that the reason DBT has proved effective for treating these conditions is that each of these conditions is thought to be associated with issues that result from unhealthy or problematic efforts to control intense, negative emotions. Rather than depending on efforts that cause problems for the person, DBT helps people learn healthier ways to cope.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a short-term goal-focused evidence-based therapeutic approach, which incorporates positive psychology principles and practices, and which helps clients change by constructing solutions rather than focusing on problems. In the most basic sense, SFBT is a hope friendly, positive emotion eliciting, future-oriented vehicle for formulating, motivating, achieving, and sustaining desired behavioral change. Solution-Focused practitioners develop solutions by first generating a detailed description of how the client’s life will be different when the problem is gone or their situation improved to a degree satisfactory to the client. Therapist and client then carefully search through the client’s life experience and behavioral repertoire to discover the necessary resources needed to co-construct a practical and sustainable solution that the client can readily implement. Typically this process involves identifying and exploring previous “exceptions,” e.g. times when the client has successfully coped with or addressed previous difficulties and challenges. In an inherently respectful and practical interview process, SF therapists and their clients consistently collaborate in identifying goals reflective of clients’ best hopes and developing satisfying solutions. 8 techniques used in solution-focused brief therapy. ... Goal development. ... The Miracle Question. ... Exception-finding questions. ... Scaling questions. ... Coping questions. ... Presupposing change questions. ... Compliments. 3 Major Principles of Solution-Focused Therapy If it's not broken, don't fix it. If something is working, do more of it. If it's not working, do something different.