LP, 10 years of experience
New to Grow
I am a licensed Clinical Psychologist in California with 15 years of professional work experience. With Grow Therapy, I am looking to help clients with anxiety, family/relationship issues, trauma, and shame & self esteem. I also have experience with developing interpersonal & communication skills directed toward challenging situations. I work with my clients to create a safe, validating, and non-judgemental environment. Taking a step to make improvements and build skills is a step closer to a better, happier quality of life. I am here to support you in that process.
First sessions accomplish many things. It is crucial that clients get a good sense of how I assess their situation and communicate my understanding of what they want to work on and why. This is not just about clients’ trust and comfort, it is about clarity and confidence that I truly understand your experience. After all, this is what is needed in order to form effective alliances to tackle goals together. In the first session, about half of the time is spent gathering as much relevant information as possible. Some of this involves taking a snapshot of current symptoms and complaints, understanding any history that may help understand the full nature and impact of problems. Then, I can share with clients what is known and what can be done to address identified issues. For clients who have been in therapy, the first session does involve familiar processes of questionnaires, forms, and questions/assessment. For those unfamiliar with therapy processes, these initial steps can be somewhat cumbersome, yet very important to make the work in following meetings clear and as efficient as possible.
I would say that I provide a unique approach that blends together a number of perspectives. Before moving into clinical psychology, I was in bio-psych-behavioral research for 5 years. This background helps me present many factors and processes involved. This helps me frame problems from new angles and offer different options that are understandable in terms of how and why they would work. The science of behavior offers practical options that you can start now to take steps toward where you want to end up. My training as a clinical psychologist also involves CBT, ACT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing. The blend of these approaches amounts to a “Home Depot” of different tools available that can be customized to your needs. While training and options are great to have, my true strength is my ability to relate in an informal, personable way to a wide range of people and communicate difficult concepts in way clients can understand and make use of. I come across like a friend who is sharing the inside scoop with you, using examples and tailored metaphors so that you’ll get it (and remember it).
Going to psychotherapy is a lot like going to physical therapy for an injury. You are in pain and discomfort, and this is limiting your strength, range of motion, and desired activities. When you go to physical therapy, it is often painful and frustrating. You often dread going to appointments and feel drained after them because things often seem to get a little bit worse before they start to get better. Psychotherapy is very similar - if you look forward to sessions and feel great after each one, you are not doing enough to get the changes you want to happen. Growth does not happen without conflict and struggle. I’m here to make that process easier and understandable, at the same time, clients who will be successful make room for this pain and discomfort.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is not just one approach, but a collection of approaches that examine the connections between thoughts, emotions, and behavior. If you’re experiencing difficulties with distressing thoughts, regulating emotions, or managing behaviorsl and you’re looking for a practical approach where you can break down situations, understand patterns, and make changes, consider CBT.
if you are struggling with relationships due to difficulty regulating emotions and mood, and experience self-destructive or self-self defeating behaviors, then considered Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This is similar to CBT, but the focus is very much on skills development..
If you are experiencing anxiety and your life has become limited due to traumatic events, phobias, OCD, worry, or panic, exposure therapy is strongly recommended. Although challenging, research consistently supports effective outcomes for exposure therapy for anxiety disorders.
If you are trying to make a change yet, you keep drifting back into a habit or behavior that you want to change, it would be very important to be informed of what research has helped us understand about how change works. Change can be difficult and goes through many stages. This is precisely why it’s important to know as much as you can about the many factors involved so you can maximize be successful, and successful while experiencing less time and frustration.