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Liz Hodgson, LCSW - Therapist at Grow Therapy

Liz Hodgson

Liz Hodgson

(she/her)

LCSW
1 year of experience
Authentic
Empowering
Warm
Virtual

Hi! I am a licensed clinical social worker with a Master’s degree in Clinical Practice with Children and Families. I received my MSW from Hunter College in January 2011 and my clinical social work license in California in December 2018. I have a been a practicing psychotherapist for 5 years working primarily with LBTQIA+ adults.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

In our first session we will introduce ourselves and I'll learn more about what's bringing you to therapy at this time and what you'd like to work on presently. You may be able to tell me immediately what your goals are for therapy, but if not I can ask you some questions to help guide you toward seeing a longer term vision for yourself and setting some long term goals and smaller goals for the short term.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

Having worked with LGBTQIA+ clients for over 15 years, and as a queer person with ADHD I bring a lot of empathy and understanding for the experiences of my clients. I know that the same things don't work for everyone and I'm willing to try a variety of approaches to find what works for you. I honor your vision and hopes for yourself and your life, your values, your gender, your work, your family and community, and your relationships with one or multiple partners.

About Liz Hodgson

Identifies as

Specializes in

Serves ages

Licensed in

Accepts

Appointments

Virtual

My treatment methods

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

Negative thoughts can keep you stuck feeling insecure, hopeless, catastrophizing, mistrustful, indecisive. You may find yourself repeating behaviors that you know aren't serving you. We can work together to expose the distortions in your thinking, use re-framing and experimentation with positive thoughts and new behaviors and practices. You can develop more confidence, find a way to more positive outcomes, and be solution oriented to address problems rather than avoiding them.

Dialectical Behavior (DBT)

We can work together to learn and practice new skills to better tolerate distress, regulate your emotions, and improve your interpersonal effectiveness. We can employ a variety of mindfulness tools and practices, see which ones actually work for you and are realistic for you in your daily life, and then develop the familiarity with them to enact them at will, especially in stressful or high pressure moments. You can improve your relationships by communicating your needs clearly, setting boundaries, respecting the boundaries of others, and improving your ability to empathize with and respond to the feelings and needs of your loved ones.

Eclectic

I know a one size fits all approach doesn't work for everyone. We will explore your strengths, resources, support networks, and current or past wellness practices that you find or have found helpful. You can let me know what has or hasn't worked for you in past therapy relationships. We can employ techniques from a variety of treatment approaches to see what works best for you, and I am always open to feedback, suggestions, or to try another approach.

Gender-affirming therapy

We can explore your own sense of your gender and if there are ways to bring your gender expression or body into more comfortable alignment with that internal sense. There can be great satisfaction in setting and working toward realistic goals, making small or big changes immediately or over time, facing fears, and overcoming imposter syndrome, accepting uncertainty or celebrating fluidity. We can find resources for and increase motivation for building a supportive community of peers. We can explore the impacts of gender in your relationships including the past, present and potential joys and challenges of how your loved ones or colleagues think about gender in general and as it relates to you. We can locate resources and discuss logistics for gender-affirming clothing, HRT or medical transition procedures if those are things you're either currently undergoing or interested in exploring. We can make space for the frustrations and problem solve around issues that come up navigating insurance and medical systems.

Motivational Interviewing

I have a harm reduction approach meaning that I use open-ended questions to determine what your hopes and dreams are for what you'd like to see in your own life and to explore how you perceive that your current behaviors do or don't serve you toward achieving that vision. I have the understanding that behavior change takes time and is usually not without some setbacks and challenges. We can set realistic intentions that utilize your strengths to make any changes to your behavior that you'd like to work toward, and each session we can work on manageable short term goals for where you are at in that particular moment rather then focusing on past failures or eventual long term goals.