LCSW, 5 years of experience
New to Grow
With over five years of experience as an outpatient therapist and a background in clinical social work, I am passionate about helping my clients understand how the world around them affects and influences their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. I bring a sense of lightheartedness to my work, as therapy can sometimes feel like quite an intense experience. One of the perks of my job as a therapist is the fact that I get the opportunity to learn from my clients, and I look forward to learning from you!
In our first session, which will last between 50-55 minutes, we'll discuss what motivated you to seek therapy at this time, as well as briefly discuss any past experiences with therapy that you may have had. I will also ask some questions about your background - including family of origin, cultural/spiritual background, education and work history, mental and medical health history, and social/relationship history - to help me get a better sense of who you are. I understand that clients can be hesitant to discuss their personal history with their new therapist, so I respect if clients choose not to answer certain questions that I ask. I honor the fact that every client's story completely belongs to them. Accordingly, I emphasize that it is always the client's choice to share or not share information about their lives with me at any point in the therapy experience. Learning more about my clients helps me understand them better and the better I understand them, the better I can help them. Of course, there's no way that I will be able to truly know and understand you after the first session. It will take at least several sessions to get to know you and to build trust - there's no rush!
I aim to help my clients feel empowered in understanding themselves and to make life choices on their own terms. We live in a society that often creates unrealistic expectations for us to be able to change our emotions, thoughts, and mood, and we are often encouraged to try to eliminate distress or pain from our lives. Instead of helping people to manipulate, change, or avoid their pain, I aim to help my clients navigate distress and pain so that those challenges don't hold them back from living a fulfilling, meaningful life based on their own values.
I believe that therapy is a long-term group project - equal efforts from both the therapist and client, as well as patience, are crucial in order for therapy to be effective. I look forward to working with clients who are interested in working through challenges together and applying what they learn in therapy to their everyday lives. While I am quite inquisitive, I am laid-back in my approach to therapy and never have any expectations for clients to answer questions that I may ask or even to be confident in how they may respond to my questions. Therapy is about brainstorming together! I am skilled in treating adolescents and young adults dealing with anxiety, depression, and/or trauma. While these are my areas of expertise, I also work well with clients who want to address relationship/social dynamics, self-esteem, life transitions, and grief/loss.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on developing coping skills and clarifying personal values in order to live a life of meaning, despite whatever challenges you may face. ACT can help you change your relationship with your unhelpful thoughts and emotions so that they do not define you and ultimately, do not hold you back from living a fulfilling life. ACT is helpful in treating anxiety, depression, and trauma, among other presenting challenges.
Using a trauma-informed approach supports clients in understanding how past or current traumatic experiences have affected their lives and particularly, their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. My trauma-informed approach does not aim to erase trauma or desensitize clients to their traumatic experiences. Rather, I focus on helping clients understand how these experiences affect them and build healthy and sustainable coping skills, so that they can live life on their own terms, without being stuck or held back by their trauma history.