Hello and welcome! My name is Barbara and I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-C) based in Frederick County, Maryland. I received my Masters in Clinical Social Work (with a minor in Program Administration) from the University of Maryland in Baltimore in 2001 and have been in private practice for 10 plus years. Before starting my own practice, I previously worked in in-patient, intensive out-patient, out-patient, crisis center and EAP settings. Currently, I provide telehealth therapy to adult women ages 18-70 years old experiencing depression, anxiety, burnout from career, family responsibilities, and relationships, problems in their marriage, family or personal life, chronic health/medical issues that impact mental health, and trauma from current or past experiences. I also work with women dealing with fertility issues, complicated pregnancy, infant loss, premature delivery, and post partum mental health and adjustment issues. I have a lot of experience working with teachers and nurses. **I currently do not provide therapy to men.**
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Together, we will identify your challenges and goals - where you want your life to be in a month, six months, or a year from now. Then, we will identify options and strategies you can use to get there. You'll leave your first session with a better understanding of what you're facing and a plan that includes specific steps you can start taking to get to where you want to be. You will also leave knowing that you have an ally and advocate on your side that will support you with compassion, honesty and empathy along the way, who is committed to the improvement of your health and well being.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I have 20+ years in the mental health field at this point and have experience in a variety of setting as noted above. I have worked with people of all ages from children as young as 3 years old to adults up to 77 years old. I have worked with children, adults, couples, families, individuals, and groups. I owe all of the skills and knowledge I have gained over the years to all of my wonderful, brave clients for allowing me to help them through their struggles, heal from unresolved pain they have been through, and teach them new and better ways of living and coping with life's challenges. I think I am different than other therapists because I truly enjoy helping people and listening. I care about my clients and want them to get better. I like to see my clients improve and no longer need therapy. Also, I try to make things as easy as possible for clients from paperwork, scheduling, communicating with me in and out of sessions, to billing, co-pays and insurance. Therapy should never add stress to your life when you are already dealing with sometimes many other things. So, if you like what you have read so far, go ahead and book a session if you are ready to get started. If you have any questions or would like to chat prior to booking, feel free to schedule a phone consult. I'm looking forward to working with you!
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
If you are an adult female and you have a strong desire to work on yourself, your relationships and take steps to become the best version of yourself, then I am the right person for you. A huge focus of therapy with me is learning how to change unhealthy thoughts and behaviors, into healthy ones. We do this by learning how to identify our unhealthy thoughts, mental scripts and coping strategies, and then identifying healthy replacement thoughts and behaviors for you to practice working on until they become your go-to effective coping strategies, replacing things from the past that no longer serve you or others. If you are ready to actively work on addressing the issues in your life that are causing problems, then please contact me and let's get you started on a new, better path. Right now with it being the holiday season, a lot of my clients are learning how to approach the holidays with a healthy mindset and reduce the pressure and stress this year with new coping skills and ways of handling interactions with family, friends and significant others. If you would like to learn how to enjoy the remainder of the year and thrive instead of just survive during the holidays, please book a session or consult and let's get you feeling more positive about yourself and your situation before another year goes by and you have not invested the time you should on your self care. When you do it makes a difference! :)