New to Grow
I am a therapist with 25+ years of experience in diagnosis and assessment, as well as level of care placement and referrals. I practice DBT, CBT, and Animal Assisted Therapy to help adolescents and adults battling anxiety, depression, trauma, or eating disorders. My approach is person-centered and trauma-informed, as I believe clients are the ones in charge of their treatment, and my role is to empower them to achieve their goals. Due to my extensive experience in higher levels of care, I am accustomed to working with complex cases and do not shy away from high acuity. I believe that anyone who comes seeking help is motivated to change and that my role is to facilitate, not to impose. I speak fluently in Spanish and am comfortable conducting assessments and treating clients in this language if that is their preference.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
During the first session, we will work on obtaining informed consent: I will explain what I do and what is outside of my scope of practice. I will want to hear about you and what you want to work on, and work together with you on developing your initial treatment plan, which is a list of the things that you want to work on.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I am very skilled in applying and teaching DBT techniques. I love helping clients understand how and why symptoms occur and identify alternative behaviors that are more effective. I value hope in the therapeutic relationship - this means I will always think my clients can get better. Finally, I will never shy away from a complex presentation as I believe that everyone deserves a chance to be treated in the least restrictive level of care that is safe.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I work best with clients seeking to gain insight into their behavior and looking for change. I approach every client without judgment, focusing on understanding the function of ineffective behaviors rather than labeling them as problems or symptoms. I love to work with people who see themselves as more than a diagnosis.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I am fully trained on DBT and have extensive experience working with adults and adolescents utilizing this treatment modality. I practice DBT to fidelity and have had success utilizing these techniques for the treatment of emotional dysregulation associated with diferent diagnosis.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
CBT is an evidence-based treatment for disorders like anxiety, OCD, and depression. I have experience using CBT for all of these disorders and have found that clients experience improvement in a relatively short period of time.