Hello! I am a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) based in the state of Florida. I have a private practive in Orlando and have been counseling for 6 years. When a client walks through my door, I choose to believe that they are doing the best that they can. My desire is to help them, when they are struggling in the midst of doing their best, to find "the better." Whether its trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, or broken trust, I partner with my clients to find ways to see things and do things differently to bring about change.
My initial session with clients is a time for the client to become acquainted with me as a counselor, ease any apprehensions they might have about the counseling process, and allow me to initially chart our course based on the information they provide.
The most important factor in counseling is the therapeutic relationship built between the client and counselor, based on trust. In treating my clients, honest, open communication is my focus as we work together to decide upon goals for treatment and the plan we take to heal and grow towards improved wellness overall.
Relationships are my specialty. I love working with families and couples. I also love to work with individuals seeking to improve their level of functioning in life through healthier relationships in the communities they interact within and, most importantly, in their relationship with self. Human beings are hard-wired for relationship and thrive when we learn how best to interact, communicate, and build trusting relationships with others.
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in an effort to assist clients in understanding how what we think, how we feel about ourselves and others, and how we behave have a direct correlation to our overall health and state of well-being. As we process the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and the underlying beliefs that influence them, we begin to gain clarity with regard to what it is we might be struggling with or areas of difficulty in our lives.
In my work with couples and families, I have completed Level 1 Training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy and use Gottman Method Couples Therapy in my work. I am also a SYMBIS (Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts) assessment facilitator. This assessment is grounded in multiple studies to ensure that the tool is both reliable and valid. It is a wonderful tool in counseling covering everything from money methods to personality styles in order to provide a personalized roadmap for your relationship.
I am a Certified Grief Educator, listed with Grief.com. "A Certified Grief Educator is committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief. Certified Grief Educators complete a certificate program designed by world-renowned grief expert, David Kessler. They bring his unique methodology, tools, and decades of experience to help people navigate the challenges of grief."
I am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional dedicated to providing help to clients seeking healing from the effects of traumatic experiences in their lives. Releasing clients from the maladaptive networks that hold them captive is the goal. I am EMDR trained and proficient in its use with clients. With EMDR, clients are enabled to successfully process experiences, in the safety of my office, in order to let go of what is not useful to them and improve their level of functioning in the present.