* I will do house calls! I can do some sessions that are home-based in Middlesex Country for perinatal moms or their significant others who have Husky insurance if you prefer home-based therapy. I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and have an array of expertise with varying age groups. I am a mom of 3 and still learning! It is busy and comes with sacrifices and challenges but fun and filled with opportunities to connect that many of us cannot slow down our lives to cue in on. I support and guide moms & dads and other caregivers with struggles including, anxiety, depression, life transitions, perinatal needs, parenting styles, bonding with your baby, self-confidence, building esteem and family issues, problem solving tricky feeding/sleeping schedules, post-partum mental health assessments and guidance on parent /child interactions for secure attachment.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
In our first few sessions I will try to get to know you a little better, why now in your life makes coming to therapy the right time, how can I support you reach a goal for yourself.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I am really good at putting myself in your shoes in order to know what you must have experienced or felt, noticing your strengths and verbalizing them to you right when it matters. I also might sense when you might need to slow things down or think about how another person around you may have felt or experienced something. I am not afraid to give suggestions or advice but I don't want to place my value system on you or against yours. I am good at getting you to recognize or think about how your child may have experienced something you both were present for when at times we forget to keep the child in mind. I am able to provide support to different types of people and make effort in learning what type of support best helps propel them forward because everyone is different and responds differently to approaches and guidance. Finding the right type of approach specific to the individual I am working with is important in the therapy and growth process.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
Whether you are looking for a brief solution oriented therapy experience, are working through a life transition, want to learn how to think more positively or to live your life with more self worth and purpose, I may be a good fit for you. I do like working with moms/dads and navigating just how challenging being a parent can be and you getting to know how NOT alone you are! I support and guide clients with many needs or struggles including, anxiety, depression, life transitions, perinatal needs, parenting styles, bonding with your baby, self-confidence, building esteem and family issues.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Our thoughts can impact our behaviors and vice versa. Learning the basics of your own thought patterns and what you notice about them and whether you want to start to make changes to them is probably the first step in having more control over your life. If you want to explore this more with me, we will talk about what you want to see change and how it relates to your thoughts and behaviors.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
If you are the type of person that is in the actions stages of a life transition, taking charge of areas of your life that need a major change, or maybe you simply do not know where to turn or what to change first, solution -focused approaches are so highly sought after, effective and sometimes fast acting because you learn how to be your own change agent! I would like to work with you so you can think more solution oriented because there is always a safe and positive way around, over or through barriers to the changes you want.
Trauma-Focused CBT
Sometimes trauma can be so far reaching on its impact on us especially if we re-experience it over again with cognitions that we have not learned how to re-frame, extract meaning from or simply find a way to shut them off. NIC-U Trauma and birthing trauma can stay with a person following the birthing process which can impact your trust in providers, I know first hand and can help share a perspective. Whether it is past trauma, a traumatic loss, or something in your daily life giving you a trauma response, coping with trauma and moving through it is highly challenging. With adults I can assist you in the basics of learning how much power the experience or event has over you, you will learn how to manage its fallout in your daily life to gain momentum onward. In young children working through trauma looks much different and happens typically through play interventions with a caregivers guidance and assistance in assessing its impact on the child's life with a trained practitioner- this is done better in person.
Adlerian
Using an Adlerian approach means we will look at how connected you are with others in your life, how you live your life and if it is with purpose and self worth. What strategies do you employ during life changes OR do you want to learn how to make changes when needed in your life? Do you want to have more of a positive outlook and be more in charge of your future and learn how to tap into your confidence? If so, this is a really effective approach!
Attachment-based
Working with moms and their baby to learn about attachment and unique parenting styles. Forming secure attachments as a child fosters stable mental health, positive peer relationships and resilience and growth into an independent and secure adult. We form many attachments throughout our life and they aren't necessarily with biological family. If disrupted and you feel you were impacted in some way, attachments can be formed again in new secure ways with others in your life! There is hope and healing in knowing that alone. Think about your life story and if you would like to explore this some more!