LCSW, 20 years of experience
Life has its ups and downs and struggles, but you don’t have to get stuck there or suffer. If you’re struggling right now, we can work together to make your life better. Therapy doesn’t have to be hard or scary. It can be a safe haven to explore what is getting in the way of having the life that you want. I’m a licensed clinical social worker, specializing in mental health and chemical dependency. I have a laid-back style and often use humor and metaphors to make ideas easy to grasp. I’ll help you learn new skills and make small changes that have big results.
Our first session is actually a little underwhelming. So don't stress about it the night before. I'll start by sharing some basic information with you. Then we'll go over the information you shared with me, and I'll brief questions about (family, work, education, strengths and stressors, cultural/racial background, spiritual beliefs, social relationships, financial concerns, health). Then we'll look at what brings you to therapy. I'll explain what type of treatment I practice and how it works. You will be an equal partner, and you decide what goals and changes you want to work on. My goal is to make change as easy as possible and to make sure you have a lot of coping skills in your toolkit by the time we are done. your background, and you'll decide what you want to work on. At the end, I'll ask if it feels like I'm a good fit and if you want to schedule your next session. Having a feeling of connection with your therapist is critical. So, if I'm not the right fit, I want to make sure that you find someone with the right chemistry.
Almost all of my clients feel better after working with me, based on their before and after treatment assessments. I work hard to help people get better and have a very high satisfaction rate. I'm flexible and use a variety of approaches depending on the client's needs or preferences. I have a lot of experience, skills and spend time in between sessions exploring what might be most helpful for my clients. Lastly, feedback is very important to me. I want to make sure that we are on the right track and whatever we are focusing on is helpful, so I check in frequently.
Welcome to "Team You" My name is Mary-Ellen. I'm so glad you took this step. I want you to feel comfortable during the sessions and happy that you took the leap after you're finished. I really enjoy working with people who are new to therapy as well as those who have tried it before and didn't have a good experience or get the results they wanted. I often work with people who have multiple issues: like depression, anxiety, ADHD in addition to chronic pain/illnesses, life transitions, aging and grief/loss just to name a few.
The way we think about situations can have a big impact on how we feel. CBT helps us become aware of thinking patterns that may be creating issues in our lives. We'll look at the relationship between your thoughts, feelings and behaviors so you can see challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way.