Domany Davilmar
As a collaborative therapist, I'm here to work together with people seeking change toward their greater enjoyment in life. Whether I'm working with someone experiencing debilitating anxiety, a military family facing connection challenges, or a couple trying to decide the next best step for their future, I focus on hearing and understanding my clients' stories from their hearts and articulated in their own words. Together, we instill hope, uncover and activate your strengths, and collaborate to bring change and sustain health in your most important relationships.
First session
The people I get to meet in therapy are often unsure what to expect in their sessions, so I offer a complimentary 15-minute phone call to any individual, couple, or family seeking to work with me. We discuss what therapy for their situation could look like, what collaborative therapy is, how long sessions are, who can join clients in their sessions, how relational therapy is different from individual therapy, scheduling and availability, and any other questions people have.
Strengths
Having worked with individuals and couples for the past seven years as a therapist, and for more than a decade in military service, I've developed a version of collaborative therapy that ensures people feel safe, heard, understood, and supported through their therapy journey. As a multiracial person with background in blue-collar, white-collar, and military workspaces, as well as diverse family experiences, I honor principles of client autonomy, client expertise, and value and dignity of human beings for their uniqueness. As Carl Rogers put it, people begin to heal the moment they feel heard. This is the banner over Stillness and Strength Therapeutic Counseling.
Ideal clients
I love working with couples in interracial, intercultural, and interfaith relationships. With so much harsh judgment in the world directed toward people who think differently, the couples I work with find acceptance, support, and encouragement in the safe space we create together. My clients generally know what they want, but have found difficulty navigating barriers that keep them feeling stuck in distressing relational cycles and hurtful communication patterns. Those tough cycles that seem never ending and overwhelming are broken when therapist and client match well and both are eager to get to work!
Treatment methods
Strength-Based
I am passionate about helping individuals, couples, and families uncover and build on their strengths to reconnect with others and bring resilience and comfort back into their lives. I believe that emphasizing the unique strengths we build over a lifetime is key to our healing, as we see ourselves more whole and more at peace with each new discovery.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I approach therapy understanding that we all have different resources and challenges, as well as unique life experiences, so I use a range of treatment modalities supported by a culturally respectful and competent stance.
Trauma-Informed Care
When people face trauma or loss of connection with their loved ones, they can feel as if their lives are coming undone. Life after trauma can be overwhelming as we begin to feel fragmented, powerless, and without hope. As a U.S. Marine veteran, I also understand the unique struggles and strengths that military life brings. My work with people experiencing trauma, those living with posttraumatic stress, and those who are grieving is truly collaborative. I honor my clients as experts on their own lives and experiences. As we collaborate, we plan for and develop solutions together, respecting each other as experts in our own right, each bringing a significant contribution to our "meeting of the minds" therapy sessions. My training is in Forward-Facing Trauma Therapy, and I have used this practice successfully for several years with combat veterans, survivors of early childhood trauma, survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, and survivors of narcissistic and emotionally immature families.
Couples Counseling
As a relational therapist, I work with couples and families at every stage of their relationships to develop the strengths they each have for healthy communication, conflict management, problem-solving, and effectiveness in supporting each other. I use collaborative therapy, which, for relational health, draws on principles of The Gottman Method, trauma-informed care, narrative therapy, and the attachment elements of Emotion-Focused Couple Therapy and Relational Life Therapy.