Hello! My name is Brianne Lutterman and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I grew up in a small town in Iowa and moved to San Antonio to get my Masters in Counseling from UTSA. I like to help people become more aware of how their thoughts impact their emotions and behaviors. I educate people on how to challenge their own perspectives, and to form new beliefs that improve their emotions and behaviors.
Coming to counseling is hard, so I like to make the first session as easy as possible for clients. I will take an extensive history from you, which includes a summary of what brought you into therapy. I do ask about traumatic events that have occurred, but a very general summary will usually suffice in the first session, as I like to dedicate a full session to this if needed and do not want to rush it. I encourage clients to consider goals that they want to achieve or change as a result of coming into counseling.
I feel that I am an empathetic listener that tries to step into your world as you experience it in order to understand your perspective and struggles. I challenge your thought process in order to help you understand why you do the things that you do and how dysfunctional/negative thoughts impact your life. I am straight-forward in my approach, but also understand that sometimes you just need to have a listening ear.
I encourage clients to identify and become more aware of the connections between their thought process and their feelings/behaviors. Irrational or dysfunctional thoughts are challenged in order to alter the negative emotions and behaviors. I prompt my clients to identify their thought process, and encourage them to propose alternative perspectives on the situation. I will help bring awareness to your own thoughts that contribute to your negative symptoms and behaviors. Coping skills and education on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will be taught.