Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to check out my profile. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed in Florida, with over 15 years of experience. You don't have to be coupled or dealing with family issues for me to work with you, it simply means I have a unique perspective on how to assist you to meet the challenges of your life and thrive.
In our first session, we will begin to get to know each other and explore the challenges that brought you into therapy. Many of my clients consider me to be warm, validating and supportive. During our intake, we will explore relevant information from various aspects of your life including history of the issues that have led you to seek therapy, personal and family mental health history, social relationships and support, strengths, and career history. We will also review symptom assessments which you completed in your consent paperwork. At the close of our session, I will share my clinical impressions and recommendations for further care.
After 12 years working in community mental health and inpatient treatment centers, I have experience with the full spectrum of mental health concerns. Through this experience, I have collaborated with a variety of individuals to build or rebuild their lives from some of the most severe challenges. I will assist you to identify barriers, strategies to utilize in times of distress and implement self-care strategies to help you maintain your progress. Building a constructive relationship with you is my first priority because it is through this rapport that we can create the outcomes you wish to see in your life. I enjoy reading, catching up on streaming shows, and crafting to name a few. You may often hear me bring in a reference from something I've read, a classic family sitcom, or even last week's Grey's Anatomy. It has been said that "Life's metaphors are God's instructions," and to me there are infinite metaphors to assist you in relating to your issues in a new, and hopefully more productive way. Whether your interests lie in sports, or fantasy and rom-com novels I will find a way for us to connect ideas in a way that makes sense for you in your life.
We learn how to be in relationship with the world from our families. From this point we learn how to view the world, our beliefs and the behaviors and attitudes that carry us through daily life. Through my work with you, we can explore these systems and how they create and maintain your current relationships with people and the problems you face. Together we can explore ways to dismantle and disrupt these systems to help you create the life you want.
CBT poses a relationship between our thoughts, behaviors and emotions. In understanding how our thoughts, and behaviors affect our mood we can begin to work modify them. Which helps you to regulate our emotions rather than our emotions running our lives.
You are the expert of your life! I am knowledgeable of various cultural influences and will respectfully explore their impact on you and your desired therapeutic goals.
Let's explore what's worked for you in the past and identify modifications that we can experiment with to find you expedient relief for some of your stressors.
Making changes can be difficult. I'll meet you where you are and explore your desired outcomes while promoting your ability to make choices and building your agency to make changes. This method can be particularly beneficial with substance use issues.