LPC, 25 years of experience
New to Grow
Hello! I have been a therapist for 25 years and find my work to be extremely rewarding. Assisting my clients in identifying issues they struggle with, helping them find their voice and identify effective solutions, and seeing them improve, is an amazing privilege that I am happy to be a part of. I love to empower my clients to take control over their lives and their mental health, My treatment style is a laid back, genuine and non-judgmental, solution-focused approach. I take an active approach and engage with my clients and work with them to achieve their goals. I am available for online sessions through Grow. I also offer in person group therapy for adolescent girls. Feel free to message me for details about the group.
In our first session is an evaluation appointment. We would review current issues you feel you are struggling with, review some basic info on who you are and your life story so far, kind of like your back story. I use this info to assist you in formulating goals and make any diagnoses I feel are appropriate. We also will spend some time going over logistics like confidentiality, making and keeping appointments, how to keep in contact with me, the use of technology for online sessions, fees and insurance, what to do in case of an emergency, etc. I will always make time to answer any questions you may have as well. Lastly, you will have a chance to get to know me a bit to see if we are a good fit to go forward. It's important to feel a connection with your therapist, so I always encourage clients to meet with a few, as some will click and some will not.
My therapeutic style is very unique in that I am more laid back and nonjudgmental. The most important aspect of therapy is that you feel safe. So I don't bring preconceived notions of what is right or wrong, or my own life values into my work. Nor do I psychopathologize everything you are experiencing. I seek to empower my clients, not assign blame or feed into victimization. I also focus on process instead of an assigned set of therapeutic techniques and structured steps. A therapeutic journey looks different for everyone and is very much a unique and personal process.
I offer individual, group and family therapy for adolescents and adults suffering from: Anxiety, depression, self harm, school issues, trauma, abuse, low self esteem, mood disorders, suicidal thoughts or attempts, panic attacks, OCD, family conflicts, eating disorders, social problems, bullying, gender family nonacceptance issues, etc.
I use CBT for assessment and goal formulation, to help the client develop insight, symptom managemen, identification and management of triggers. Examples of techniques are cognitive restructuring, identification of negative core self beliefs, targeted behaviors. skills training and maintenance of symptom and trigger management. CBT is the standard of care for most common mental health issues.
Existential therapy is the work under the CBT work. This type of therapy is a humanistic approach to understanding and normalizing the clients current life crisis. For example, a man in his middle age has a very different life situation then a female adolescent. Identifying these normal life crises can help the client find meaning and purpose to their lives, as well as improve self worth through finding value and identifying personal strengths that the client may not recognize.
I have extensive training and experience assisting clients in overcoming issues from emotional, sexual and physical trauma, from family, friends, relationships or tragic life events. I take standard CBT techniques but use them in the frame of the traumatic event as the main cause of triggers and symptoms. The underlying goal of most trauma informed care is to regain emotional safety. This is extremely important, as once a client has the ability to feel safe in their own skin, outside stressors have less of an impact.
Therapy that is trauma informed, views the client's stressors in the frame of the original source of trauma as the underlying cause. This can be a very powerful tool to eliminate self blame and improve self worth. Identifying and understanding how trauma can directly cause a client's symptoms is very empowering. Emotional safety can be achieved through boundary identification and assertiveness training. Boundaries help everyone improve emotional safety and self esteem and self efficacy.
DBT techniques combine nicely with CBT. Such as; mindfulness, learning emotional regulation, boundary identification and assertiveness. These techniques can greatly improve a client's emotional safety and locus of control, which again, is key to symptom decrease and management and improving a client's own self worth and empowerment.