New to Grow
A lot of people have told me about a lot of really hard stuff over my last 20 years of helping them through challenges as severe as drug addiction and the loss of a child. Through my experience, I have learned that sharing my presence is much more important than providing answers. While my education in psychology and marriage and family therapy is valuable, my ability to connect with people in and through their pain is priceless.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
First impressions are important, and I'm much more concerned about how you see me than I am about how I see you, especially during the first session. I will ask questions, "get to know" questions, and not "trick you into telling me what's wrong with you" questions. I hope you will have questions and ask any that might help you get to know me well enough to feel safe. Safe enough to tell me what you want to work on and safe enough to tell me the hard things you don't know how to tell anyone else. Most of all, I invite you to be honest, and I promise you won't hurt my feelings if you decide that my first impression isn't what you need it to be.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
Caring about others more than myself has always been both a strength and a weakness. Don't worry, I've learned how to take care of myself as I've gotten older, so I can sit with you in discomfort, through crying, anger, and hopefully joy.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
My ideal client is anyone who has a desire to do something different. While habits are familiar and comfortable, they aren't always helpful. Understanding how we become stuck and why we are stuck in unproductive reactions and patterns is the most beneficial part of therapy. I don't tell people what to do or what's wrong with them. Instead, I do my best to help them understand what happened to them and how they adapted in either healthy and/or unhealthy ways. If you're looking for someone to help you navigate the path to doing something different (and better) I'd love ot connect.
Attachment-based
I have 20 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families who want to understand their experiences and how they have impacted their emotional attachments and regulation.
EMDR
I have training and experience using EMDR to help people reprocess and understand their most challenging and traumatic experiences.
Christian Counseling
I'm always open to helping people understand their doubts and beliefs about a higher power.