New to Grow
After 12 years in community mental health crisis services, I am passionate about working in private practice with clients that choose to be engaged in self-care for their mental wellness to develop the skills and resilience to self-regulate and modulate the peaks and valleys of life experiences. Mental wellness, like physical wellness changes on a continuum. Being your partner in the therapeutic process is a journey to build the wellness practices and skills to circumvent crisis situations. Drawing from my diverse educational, professional development, and life experiences, my goal is to collaborate with clients using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused and Psychodynamic Therapy, with a mindfulness approach to build the skills needs for self-regulation and fulfillment. Additionally, I continue to offer training and family support to break the stigma associated with mental health treatment and care.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
Session 1 is your opportunity to INTERVIEW me to determine if I am the therapist you are looking for as you take this step. Then we will move to an INTAKE: I want to understand what brought you to therapy at this time in this current moment. Next is GOALSETTING: I will ask you to share the expectations that you have for therapy and what you want to achieve. We will discuss the roadmap to get you there and how we will know we have arrived.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I have always believed that each of us deserve to be accepted for our own uniqueness or "normal" and my greatest strength is that acceptance of others. I have accomplished therapeutic goals such as assisting clients to feel more capable of exercising control of their lives, increasing their decision making skills, acceptance of their own mistakes and finding motivation to make life changes. My greatest treatment successes come in working to help children and adolescents manage emotionality and build enhanced resiliency skills to handle and accept challenges more effectively and adaptively. By incorporating pschoeducation into psychotherapy, I work to help individuals understand mental health and wellness, mental illnesses and diagnosis. My approach to treatment is based in Solution Focused Therapy and incorporating elements of specific therapies to meet individual needs, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and Mindfulness I am able to bring a dynamic approach to treatment and recovery. Clients leave each session knowing they are working towards the identified goals and with a strategy and coping skills to work towards the desired outcomes.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
Working to assist and support clients and their families/caregivers in developing balance and pursuing their self-determined and dynamic potential, I offer therapy for children, adolescents, and adults with anxiety, depression, grief, negative emotionality and self-esteem, disruptive behaviors, trauma experiences and life transitions. Additionally, I assist individuals and families in understanding advocacy for treatment services and supports.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Using focused talk therapy to help with managing anxiety, depression, and other issues by focusing on the connection between mindset and thoughts, feelings, and behavioral response. By working to teach individuals to identify and challenge negative patterns of thinking and response and replace them with more desirable and realistic ones, while also developing practical coping strategies for problem-solving and stressful situations. The goal is to help you self regulate by developing skills to manage your symptoms independently.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
Using a person center approach to create a safe place for a collaborative effort with each client to explore their life experiences in a supportive environment. For anxiety, depression, life transitions and adjustments, this means the client feels safe to explore their feelings without judgment, which builds self-awareness and self-acceptance, allowing them to find their own solutions and tap into their innate ability to grow. Combined with mindfulness practices, person centered therapy will allow the client to become more self awareness and have more self-compassion to help promote mental wellness.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Working with clients to become aware of and change their inner dialogue from criticism to understanding and supportive self care and in engagement with others. It begins with recognizing that the adage "do unto others as you want the to do unto you" starts with self. As individuals learn to be the helpful, understanding and accepting person they are for others for themself, they are able to build better self-regulations, emotional resilience and wellness.