LMHC, 16 years of experience
Hi! I’m a licensed counselor in Indiana, Arizona, and California currently residing in the Texas Gulf Coast. I completed my master’s degree in Tennessee in 2008 after having been a paralegal for 15 years. I have worked in a variety of clinical settings, including helping women recover from domestic violence and sexual assault, a weight management clinic, and private practice.
During our first session, we will complete an assessment that includes your presenting concerns, a history of your symptoms, family history, trauma history (no details required as that can be re-traumatizing), as well as your goals for therapy. We will also complete a treatment plan based upon your goals for therapy.
I bring compassion, empathy, as well as a sense of humor to the session. Having had another career prior to counseling, I can draw from my own breadth of life changes and adjustments to relate to clients.
Most of my experience has been with adults, particularly women, who are experiencing anxiety and/or depression, many times with a history of trauma. Because of my passion for mind body health, I obtained an integrative nutrition health coaching certification. I often help clients overcome psychological barriers to making lifestyle changes they desire.
Often times, the mind may lie to us or create narratives that hold us back. With CBT, we identify those scripts and challenge the accuracy of them as well as replace them with more self-compassionate language.
With ACT approaches, we learn through mindfulness based practices to become more of an observer of thoughts and feelings and less entangled and controlled by them. We set behavior goals based on values meaningful to the client to help them live a fulfilling life.
Cognitive Processing Therapy is about 10 sessions of structured therapy specifically for recovery from trauma. It is homework intensive but 10 weeks can provide decades of relief from trauma symptoms.