LMHC, 6 years of experience
New to Grow
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Indiana and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in South Carolina. I have over 5 years of experience specializing in assisting children, teens, and families experiencing safety concerns or deteriorated functioning at home, school, or elsewhere. I am passionate about treating children and teens with a trauma history and helping to improve family relationships.
In our first session, I will gather information about presenting concerns, treatment goals, history of therapy, support network, and safety. I will explain my therapeutic style and format of our sessions.
My greatest strengths include guiding children and teens on effective utilization of coping skills and collaborating with families to increase successful engagement at home. I can adapt easily to prioritize immediate needs over long-term goals. I strive to build a strong therapeutic rapport with each individual I work with.
The best therapeutic fit would include a child or teen with a history of high acuity symptoms including aggression, suicidal and homicidal ideation, and/or self-harm. I am comfortable being the counselor for someone who has recently transitioned from a higher level of care including PHP, IOP, inpatient, or residential. I have a passion for working with youth who are displaying unsafe behaviors following a significant trauma or life circumstance. I also enjoy providing therapy services to caregivers of youth and working with family units.
I facilitate a safe, judgment-free, and supportive environment for children and families to disclose and process through trauma at an individualized pace. I provide psychoeducation on the impact of trauma on mental health and how to improve symptom stability and resilience.
I gather information regarding each individual in a family system with the goal of strengthening bonds between agreeable family members. I guide in sharing of events leading to relational strain and identification of solutions to alter patterns of damaging behaviors. I encourage identification and communication of ways each family member can better express affection and support eachother.
I work collaboratively with individuals experiencing acute disruption of functioning to identify and implement person-centered goals in a SMART format.
I conduct risk assessments and engage in safety planning interventions. My focus includes discovery of protective and risk factors, application of coping skills, and healthy utilization of supportive relationships.
I facilitate group sessions for children, families, and caregivers. These sessions focus on processing events and teaching psychoeducational topics related to safety, functioning, support, coping skills, feelings, triggers, communication, and responsibility.