LMHC, 15 years of experience
Hi! My name is Claire and I'm a licensed mental health therapist with the state of Florida. I received my masters in Mental Health Counseling in 2013 and have been working in the field since then. I've worked in all aspects of mental health including private practice, outpatient services, residential facilities, schools, and inpatient therapy services. I enjoy working with an approach that is centered in cognitive behavioral therapy that also includes somatic work to be able to integrate the mind and the body together. Outside of working I've been with my partner since 2013 and in 2021 we welcomed a child into our lives. Some of the most fulfilling moments are those that I can find myself in nature, whether in the mountains, on the beach, or out for a run being outside will consistently be a source of joy for me.
During the first session I want to get to know you and what made you want to sign up for therapy in the first place. Deciding to begin therapy can happen for such a large variety of reasons and I want to be able to know what yours is. I'll ask about your background and what you think is important that I know about you. I'll ask about your support system and how they best support you. In addition, on the first session we will also begin to discuss what your treatment goals are. What is that you want to be working towards? The first session is very much also laying groundwork and being able to find out together is we are compatible for therapy. Therapy can be such a unique and special experience, but will work best when you feel comfortable and safe with the person that you are talking. I want to make sure that you feel that way when we meet and if there is ever a time in which that changes I encourage you to bring that up so that we may have a discussion and I can be able to make the changes needed to assist you at that time. At the end of the day the biggest goal to be met is that you are able to work on the obstacles in your life and I want you to be able to be successful at completion with that goal whether that is with me or if I can connect you with someone who may be better suited for you. In addition to our initial session I will also send over a computer based assessment to identify any other additional areas of background information so that I can read your summary and ask for further information as needed but without needing to use additional time. My type of therapy with my clients can be very flexible. Not every client enjoys worksheets, not every client enjoys not having worksheets. There's no one way to learn and there's no one way to have therapy sessions. I'll work with you wherever you are and with whichever types of aides will be most beneficial to your work.
Some would say my strengths include my ability to listen to you and be there to support you, but not so blindly. Sometimes it's the job of the therapist to be able to be the support that you may be lacking, and sometimes it's to be the voice of compassion that your loved ones may not know how to give you. I'm not here to co-sign on bad ideas or unhealthy and toxic behaviors, but I am here to help you in recognizing what healthy thoughts and behaviors are and how to be able to keep working towards the good changes instead of slipping back into comfortable and familiar patterns that might be the reasons why we live in emotional pain. I have a practice in gaining the rapport of my patient through being able to work with them to understand each individual and to set specific goals so we always know where we are going. Sometimes counseling is a bit like a road trip, without the map we wouldn't know where we are going. My job as your therapist is not to only help navigate you to the areas that you want to explore the most but also to shine light on the areas that are holding you back from being able to go to where it is that you want to be. My strengths in counseling include depression, anxiety, stress, increasing self-esteem and confidence, coping with life issues, as well as coping with addictions. I also have background in working with bipolar disorder, increasing communication skills, family/relationship conflicts, and understanding trauma. I look forward to being able to help you in any of these areas or any that may spring up throughout our counseling process. I've began to integrate somatic work into our therapy journey to also assist you in connecting the body and the mind to be able to reduce the feeling of burn out that so many of of us are currently in. Coming into therapy can be a difficult journey, but it will be the most worthwhile journey for you and I'll be happy to be able to help you throughout the journey. Let's do this together to be able to make the best of it all!
I work mainly with a wide variety of clients who mainly want to be able to work on increasing their self-esteem and reducing any anxiety or depression symptoms that they may be having. Sometimes in life we weren't taught how to be able to cope with the outside world and I also like to make sure that we take some time setting up coping tools that you can be able to to use for yourself.
I began working with couples clients early in my career and in 2019 I was approved with Gottman Connect to be able to conduct couples assessments to be able to assist couples in identifying strengths and areas of weakness in their relationships. I also utilize Gottman Connect to be able to connect resources for the couple to assist in their counseling for topics of exploration and role playing videos for discussion and psychoeducation. I've been able to continue to study and learn about relationship attachment theory as it applies to partner relationships in order to assist couples in making more secure attachment bonds with one another for improved communication and more secure relationship foundations.
Somatic therapy is about learning how to integrate your mind and your body together. While CBT works with a very top down approach, somatic is more looking at a bottom up. It helps in grounding you through mindfulness techniques that allow you to explore the information that your body stores alongside with the cognitive work to be able to reduce feelings of distress and allow for your body to feel relaxed and at ease.
Psychoeducation is something that goes hand in hand with being in therapy. Without education we wouldn't know how to bake, cook, tie shoes, read, complete math equations, etc. When it comes to topics like regulating our bodies through distress, utilizing healthy coping skills, knowing healthy boundaries from unhealthy boundaries, becoming assertive - who has taught us how to do those things? In which class where those topics covered? In therapy that is where we will cover these topics. I don't anticipate that just because someone has decided to come into therapy that they are fully aware and knowledgeable in these topics. We start with beginning aspects of education and build our way up from there.
1 rating with written reviews
June 19, 2025
I have been seeing Claire since 2022, she is authentic, direct, and warm. She has helped me get through so much in the time we've been seeing each other. Even if I have nothing new we still use the time to destress. She is incredibly understanding to life's speed bumps and is truly intelligent. Therapy can be challenging but she makes it enjoyable with laughs and small tangents that we somehow relate back to what we were discussing. Truly a great therapist!