LPC, 3 years of experience
Hello. I'm Billie! Do you feel pressure to conform to other people's expectations? Are you feeling overwhelmed by anxiety? Are you looking for a therapist but don't want to have to explain your identity? (LGBTQ, Poly, Kink, Asexual) I help clients with discovering their authentic selves. This could be coming out, gender transition, job transition, processing past trauma, and ways to meet the challenges of life. Starting counseling can be scary. When I started my transition in 2010 I was terrified. It was difficult but I am in a much better place mentally than I was before counseling. I became a counselor because I know how powerful it can be in other people's lives.
I proved a space without judgement to allow the client to explore themself. With these barriers down it allows the client to examine how they feel and determine their own needs. There is no one size fits all treatment for people.
I principally use person-centered therapy. This is based on the idea that the client is an expert on themself. The role of the therapist is to help the client determine a course of action that works best for them. I will sometimes use CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) which can be useful in lower down anxiety such as anxiety related to social gatherings or phobias. Other common tools can be breathing techniques and meditation.
The feedback that I get from my clients is that they like working with me because I work hard to learn about the challenges of different groups. That can be the challenges of being a first-generation college student, being Queer and growing up in a conservative religion, and the injustices experienced by racial, religious, sexual and gender minorities. I work with several transgender clients because they prefer having a therapist that understands similar challenges with family, medical, and society. I also work with parents that have children (adult or minors) that come out as transgender and need some help understanding.
Most of my clients are members of the LGBTQIA community. I work with Gender Transition, coming out, processing religious trauma.