(she/her)
Making the decision to start your journey in mental health (or pick it back up) can be one of the scariest and most nerve-wracking things in this world. Bearing your soul and sharing the deepest, darkest, and most vulnerable parts of yourself with a virtual stranger is one of the bravest choices you can make. Are you ready to take that first step? I'm a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) practicing in California for over 7 years. I've worked with children, teens, and adults from all backgrounds and walks of life. The majority of my work has been with individuals experiencing severe mental illness in community mental health. I have worked extensively with individuals and families in crisis to provide a safe and honest space to work through whatever is holding them back from leading the life they want to lead. I am a trauma-informed, an Emergency Responder and Public Safety Certified Clinician (ERPSCC), Certified First Responder Counselor (CFRC), and am trained in TF-CBT. I aim to provide an environment where you are never afraid to share those dark thoughts or memories for fear that it will be "too much" for the therapist on the other end. I also strive to provide culturally-competent treatment for my clients, by attending trainings focusing on the LGBTQ+ community, persons of color, non-traditional relationships, and other communities with their own unique challenges. I love to find unique ways to build rapport and communication with my clients. Don't know where to start with how you are feeling? Give me a song that describes your week. Struggling with maintaining eye contact over a computer screen? Let's do some coloring to ease you into it. You are unique and your treatment should be too. Are you ready to open the door to healing?
Our first session together will be a "getting to know you", including discussing what brings you to therapy, what you are hoping to get out of our time together, and any prior experiences (good or bad!) that you have had with your mental health journey in the past. I am a firm believer that one of the most important (if not the most important) factors in a successful therapist/client relationship is a good rapport. I want to be able to provide you with a safe space to vent, explore, cry, release, learn, and grow, so that you can shed the things that no longer benefit you and embrace the things that give you hope and make you feel more you.
I believe that each individual is unique and their treatment should be too. I incorporate a variety of therapeutic interventions, including CBT, solution-focused intervention, mindfulness, and humanistic (Gestalt, person-centered, existential) in an integrative way to best benefit you. I will also consider current research in the field of mental health to ensure we take a holistic view of you as a person. I am always attending trainings and conferences to try to find more tools and methods to aid my clients in their mental health journey.
My biggest strength is humor. I am not the "blank slate" therapist who remains neutral in every session. We all need laughter and light in our lives and while therapy can tackle some dark and devastating topics, I think it's important to be able to recognize and rejoice in those moments of humor, whether it's laughing at the absurdity of a situation or the cat video a friend sent you. I also think my genuineness and honesty are some of my biggest strengths as a therapist. There are times where we all need someone to gently and non-judgmentally challenge us on certain beliefs, thoughts, or actions that may be holding us back from living the life we want to lead. I am the same person with you in session that I am in the outside world and I encourage you to be your most honest self with me.
Since I have worked with a diverse background of individuals and families from all walks of life, I am comfortable working with a wide array of issues and demographics. Some of my specialties include first responders/public safety personnel, LQBTQIA+, and those with trauma histories.