I have an eclectic background that includes holistic medicine, exercise physiology, and cognitive behavioral therapy. I have worked with individuals with a broad range of goals, interests, and challenges, including athletes, LGBTQ individuals, adults experiencing chronic medical issues, adults in need of career counseling, adults with intellectual disabilities, and mostly, regular people experiencing everyday challenges in life that we all face, sometimes seeming to overwhelm, intimidate and distress us even on our better days. My goal with treatment is to clarify, assist, and support. The best outcome for me is that you, my client, feel capable of using some of the tools and strategies that we talk about to better navigate your daily life.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, expect me to ask you questions about your short and long term goals, and also ask you questions about your own perceptions of the barriers that you feel you have been facing. In other words, why do you think you can't get to the place that you think you are going? Sometimes, we need to change destinations and sometimes we all need a better road map. So, these are the first steps. I will also ask you to clarify for me what your expectations of counseling are, and I will ask you to tell me what some of your concerns are regarding the whole counseling thing so that we can figure out whether we are compatible with each other.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My biggest strength, I think, is my respect for individuality. As an older counselor, I have experienced a few different professions, have many hobbies, and have been marginalized in different ways during the course of my own life. What I most wish to instill in my clients are feelings of worthiness and validity. We are not alone, but it's sometimes hard to feel healthy and connected in the environment that we're all living in these days. I hope to be able to help my clients take up space, feel connected to their "tribe" of choice, and find those "whirled peas" that we all keep visualizing but can't seem to capture.