While working as a middle school shop teacher I saw the role of the school counselor and pursued a master's in school counseling, while working on that degree I saw the opportunity of a full time mental health counselor. I stayed in grad school and earned the second masters in Professional Counseling. I continued teaching as long as a I was able to working on my hours to become a fully licensed Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Texas. Once I realized the challenges of remaining a teacher and aquiring my hours (3000) for the full license I left teaching work in a geriatric psych hospital as a full time therapist. Working in the hospital I was able to increase my confidence in communicating with clients and family members. In the hospital setting I was required to handle any case that was handed to me and through treatment team meetings I was able to learn from and contribute to other therapist's case loads. Since becoming fully licensed and working with my clients independently I try to take on any situation that presents itself, however, I do have to be aware of my limits. I have had strong success in helping clients get through their depression and learn to manage and reduce the effects of anxiety in their lives. I have helped clients that have had a limited amount of sessions to work with get past what may seem to be trivial problems that have generated big issues in relationships. Regardless of working with an individual in a relationship or working with both individuals together, I've had very positive results helping couples inprove their relationships. Clients have learned to communicate with each other and enjoy their time together. I don't make any of these things happen, but as a client recently told me I either gave him the tools or helped him find the tools he need to work on his relationship with his wife. He went on to say it is up to him to figure out which tool works best in each situation.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In each session I hope the client will find more confidence in themselves. I hope clients will have a better understanding of identifying challenges in their lives and learn to take on those challenges. I want client not to think of their lives as being full of problems, but full of challenges. I want clients to realize challenges make life interesting when we take on those challenges. I want clients to establish goals in their lives and develop plans for how to achieve those goals. I frequently tell my clients goals without a plan of how to achieve them are just dreams. Yes we need dreams but to make them come true we also need plans. In addition to these things I want my clients to understand the power of a smile. There is an old saying when you smile the world smiles back.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
Everything I do revolves around Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), I do use narrative therapy, person centered, and solution focused methods as well. With CBT I will show you when you change how you think about things it can truly change how you feel and act about things. I want you to focus on your day to day living and don't forget the trivial accomplishments everyone achieves every day regarless of the challenges that present themselves each day. Learning to challenge thinking disortions, learning to change your language when you are speaking about yourself, or your partner can lead to big changes in your life.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I like to show my clients I'm human and I have feelings. I can connect with my clients and understanding where they are coming from and what they are dealing with. Many times at the beginning of a session I will share something I feel is quirky that has happened in my day or week. This has been effective in showing my clients I am human and while I am a counselor I still face challenges in my daily life. While working with a medical doctor as a client shortly after getting my full license the doctor agreed if does help clients relax. In a very recent session with a new client, I asked to client to rate his anxiety. The client responded it was pretty high until about 20 seconds into the session when I had made him feel comfortable and he could talk to me.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
Ages 13 and up. I have the most experience with Anxiety and Depression. I have done very well with couples therapy both working with an individual having trouble in their relationship and the couple.