I've been a mental health counselor longer than I was a person and when I discovered such I realized how to turn my life journey and passion for wellness and identity into a way of helping others find meaning, relief, and direction during life transitions and challenges. I am a psychotherapist and wellness expert who enjoys being a support and open ear for those in need of a safe space and change within their lives. With a diverse background in providing therapy and counseling services, I like to start with meeting you where you are at and seeing the path that you desire. I enjoy helping you find ways and strategies that support movement towards your goals or healing. I have a bag of tricks and skills to offer if that is what is necessary. I'd rather connect as persons navigating this big thing called 'life' by offering perspective through a lens of individualized strengths, personality preferences (e.g. MBTI), emotional regulation/stress management, and the dimensions of wellness.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
First session, you can expect to be met with unscrambling recent events and then being asked where you want to go from where you are standing. This looks like going over the last couple months to a year and sometimes our early years leading up to now so we can create a plan of things we want to talk about and work on as we start a journey together to feeling better and changing perspective.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
Empathy, warmth, flexibility, comfort with talking about critical topics, multimodal/eclectic
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
With my handful of lessons, quirks, and interventions, if you are confused not sure where life is taking you, needing to make sense of recent feelings, lost knowing who you are, or needing practical skills to overcome a current or various stressors, I work to make what's unclear clearer. Are you finding yourself without purpose or as a different person? If so, I offer supportive therapy that will lead you to a new place from where you started coming into sessions.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
We select values and actions that align with your goals by looking over a needs wheel or assessing preferred coping skills categories.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
When utilizing CBT, I first teach clients the cognitive triangle which describes the relationship between our thoughts, actions, and feelings. After understanding the interconnectedness of these items, we start (1) finding ways to interrupt the relationship and modify for adpative, desirable outcomes, (2) employ the ABCDE model to further investigate how our beliefs directly impact our behaviors and emotions in cyclical ways, or (3) begin reframing automatic thoughts and replacing them with positive self-talk, pleasant activities, and relaxation techniques. Depending on the presenting symptoms, we identify emotional triggers and the process at which their emotions show up for them.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
As a DBT-informed therapist, I teach clients the different areas of DBT including dialetics, distress tolerance, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation. Based on the nature of their concerns and correlated symptoms, therapist will provide appropriate skills for client to test out to decrease severity of emotional distress and situational crises. Most emphasis will be placed on the act of mindfulness and the seven core skills of this practice.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I typically always meet my clients where they are at and allowing clinical and personal insight to inform hwo to navigate building rapport and connection with clients. They are invited into the process of the therapeutic journey by means of choosing how sessions can go, providing feedback to therapist, and receiving individualized care. Focus interventions will expand their understanding of themselves within the contexts of each dimension of their life. Therapeutic outcomes will be enhanced by therapist's unconditional positive regard, congruence, and warmth.