Hello there, I want to ask you a series of questions, Are you overwhelmed and stressed a lot of the time? What has been the quality of your sleep lately? Do past hurts, traumas and damaged relationships keep you woke at night? Do you feel misunderstood and judged? Is your best not good enough? Do you long for relief from the pain of the past? I'm here to tell you that carrying the weight of unresolved issues impacts your present as well as your outlook for the future. The hurt that's embedded deep in your heart may manifest as anger, depression, isolation, anxiety, broken relationships, poor parenting, eating disorders, substance abuse, and much more. It's okay to seek help you're not weak; you're human. My passion is helping you heal the pain in your heart. I want you to release that pain and begin healing. I want to help you to come to terms with the experiences you feel you cannot face alone. I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Psychoanalytic therapy to help you overcome the limiting and often paralyzing beliefs that result from past hurts and trauma. I want you to live fully again! My career is a call to serve. I have 21 years of experience where I have focused on healing emotional and psychological wounds. I provide a safe place where you can expose your pain and problems through a heart-to-heart conversation. I take pride in my ability effectively engage, listen, and hear what is NOT being said. I offer therapeutic interactions that bring comfort, healing, and hope, for the future. I honor the opportunity to connect with you.

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

It has been my experience that clients may feel nervous and unsure about what to expect during their initial therapy session. They may wonder how much will I have to disclose right away. They may have been holding painful feelings in for a very long time, yet still feel unable to freely discuss. This is where my engagement skills are most effective. It is my goal as a seasoned therapist to create a connection that will allow my clients to feel in control of what and how much they disclose during their initial session. At the end of our sessions, I want my clients to be relaxed and ready to continue the therapeutic journey that will lead to the unloading of baggage. I want them to leave their session with hope, insight, strength, and a sense of support and companionship for the journey they will embark upon in therapy.

What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?

As a Psychotherapist I utilize Psychoanalytic Therapy. This approach to clinical intervention focuses on the client identifying self-limiting patterns, healing from past experiences, and gaining insight into how their unconscious mind influences their behavior. The client will become aware of how their suppressed thoughts, feelings, and desires tend to take an alternative route of expression often manifesting as symptoms. I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to assist clients with identifying and replacing maladaptive patterns of thinking, emotional responses, and behaviors. I utilize Solution Focused Therapy for my clients that present with a specific challenge they are facing in their life. This approach attempts to focus on solutions, rather than the issues that led to the client seeking treatment. This approach requires the client and the therapist to collaborate on ways in which the client's life will improve once the issues have been resolved. Due to the nature of the therapeutic process and the emotional shifting that will take place I strongly recommend that my clients start a journal as soon as they begin therapy. This is a journey that is unique to each client that I service. Together we will collaborate and utilize therapeutic methods and tools to meet agreed upon goals for the journey.

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

After 21 years as a therapist, I have had experiences that have shaped who I am professionally. I have assisted clients through some extremely dark periods in their journey. I have also had the privilege of watching clients heal and blossom into the person they strongly desired to be. I have personally grown more in the past 21 years than I ever did in the proceeding years. Engaging with others in such a deep and intimate way is life-altering. I would have to identify my biggest strength as my ability to enter into a client's life and understand their core struggle by using my engagement and listening skills. As a therapist, I understand the term "meet the client where they are". My engagement and listening skills are what I use to assist me in finding out exactly where my client is so I can begin providing treatment to the most affected area so that healing can begin sooner than later. I have learned to not underestimate the healing power of a heart-to-heart conversation.

About Kimberly Washington