LICSW, 25 years of experience
I am a licensed independent practice-level clinical social worker. I have dedicated my career to working in behavioral health treatment. I have worked within the Department of Defense Schools in Europe and Asia. I have worked with Active Duty members, Veterans and their families. I have provided clinical supervision within both the Department of Defense headquarters and at the Veteran Affairs hospital, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Prior to joining the Civilian Service, I practiced mental health within the civilian community, my focus there was substance abuse, domestic violence and and a variety of mental health issues working with adolescents and adults. My strongest ability lies in helping a client identify strengths and weaknesses while guiding them to identify goals and interventions that will work specifically for them. The most challenging part of therapy is believing it will make a difference. The best way to overcome that hurdle is to see successful outcomes. Clinical experience has taught me that if you are willing to do the work, you will see results. Using the appropriate interventions, combined with mutual openness, respect and trust will enable you to overcome obstacles and achieve goals you didn't believe possible. Through years of dedicated work with all age groups, life experiences and extremely challenging circumstances, I have developed a strong sense of commitment in creating a safe and supportive environment that fosters healing, self-awareness and growth.
Our first session will be about getting to know each other, what brought you into therapy, your priorities, goals, challenges, hopes and dreams. We will begin to identify your strengths, what brings you joy and the challenges you are facing that are getting in the way of you living your best life.
I am not a magician. The only magic cure I know of is change. My greatest strength lies in the ability to help you identify what you love about yourself and your life, and what you would like improve or change. Together, we will explore how you might be sabotaging your life and relationships and most important; what you are willing to do about it.
I enjoy working with all ages and find that I easily work with adolescents and young adults. Clients that come in with an open mind and some sense of what is working and what is not working in their lives make my job a dream. I expect the road to growth to be a bit bumpy and challenging and it is a wonderful feeling to see my clients grow from those challenges. Change can be daunting, the most successful clients understand that their difficulties were not created overnight, likewise they most likely will not resolve overnight.
I use CBT combined with other therapeutic interventions depending on the client's goals and receptiveness to treatment CBT is used to help individuals identify and change negative thought patterns affecting emotions and behaviors. CBT is an evidence based treatment that has been shown to be successful in treating cognitive distortions, depression and anxiety.
DBT is used to treat a wide range of mental health disorders, including personality disorders and depression. DBT is used to manage symptoms such as hopelessness and helps clients develop readily available coping mechanisms. DBT is an evidence based intervention which helps individuals reduce negative thought processes and self-harm behavior.
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is evidence based psychotherapy used to alleviate distress associated with traumatic memories of events that involves focusing on a traumatic or disturbing memory while experiencing bilateral stimulation, such as tapping or eye movement. This process is believed to help the brain reprocess the memory and reduce its emotional impact.
ACT provides a flexible model for treating a spectrum of trauma-related issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, depression, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, shame and suicidality and more. This approach assists the individual in finding safety in their bodies, overcome hyperarousal, eliminate disassociation, change self-hatred to self-compassion, identify and mitigate cognitive distortions and difficult emotions and aid in emotional and behavioral growth to improve quality of life.