Licensed to practice in Missouri and accepts 16 insurances. Specializes in Addiction, Anxiety, Depression and 10 more.
(he/him)
New to Grow
I am a licensed clinical social worker with 10+ years of experience in various settings, always with a focus on helping people clarify where they are, where they want to be, and how to get there. My approach to therapy revolves around getting to know you and helping you learn about yourself as well through introspective questions, curiosity, and mutual respect. I believe that each person chooses what is best for them in each situation with the information and skills they have and it is my job to help bring clarity and light to what they are experiencing, the many skills and strengths they already have, and then teach additional skills that may be helpful. I do this through evidence based practices shown across the field and through research to assist people in moving forward. Therapy is all about putting your expertise about yourself and my knowledge of skills and human relationships together on the table and taking a look together to see how we can make sense for a path forward. What I enjoy most about my work is getting to meet new people and help them grow in the ways they would like to.
In our first session, we'll mostly spend the time talking about what you've been experiencing and what doesn't feel "right" or - in other words - what brought you to seek help. I'll have some specific questions to ensure I am understanding any possible underlying causes or additional resources we may need on board, but mostly, this is just a conversation. I try to end each session, even the first one with something you can take with you to think about, practice, or work on before next session. In this way...the work never stops and we progress towards your goals much faster!
I'm collaborative. I'm by no means "the expert". I've been in practice long enough to know there are evidence based practices and good methods and will utilize these; but each person is an individual and experiences things differently. So I check in often, check for understanding, ask for YOUR experience and any shifts, and ultimately, give you choices of possible next steps. Additionally, I love to learn. This translates in three ways - 1) I never stop learning about new treatments, interventions, skills, and theories in my field. It's all very exciting to me and this love for learning translates to me being on top of the latest possibilities for helping you reach your goals, 2) I'm very interested and attentive to learning about you. I'm not interested in learning the "basics" of what's happening in your problem and then telling you my "advice", I'm interested in partnering with you to pull out your strengths, motivation for change, and resilience. This is how true work and change happens. 3) I'm open to feedback. If something isn't working, let me know! If you'd prefer not to do something, let's have a discussion. I may not always agree and I may have reasons for sticking with a recommendation, but I'm open to learning, growing, and shifting as needed and when possible.
I am a therapist with 10+ years of experience working across many populations, settings, and fields. My specialties include substance use, anxiety, phobias, depression, chronic pain, relationships, and PTSD; however, sometimes people, myself included, need to etch out a plan and next steps forward for "everyday" conflicts, issues, stressors, and surprises that come up as well. I also am passionate and experienced specifically with the LGBTQ+ population and the military/veteran and first-responder population. I generally am a good fit for someone who is seeking some form of change; maybe you don't know what it is just yet and certainly not how to go about it, but the interest is at least there in small bits. From there, we can work to identify the underlying cause of your experiences, your motivations for making change, what changes may be most beneficial and make sense for your life and your goals, clarify your goals, and then grow needed skills together in order to take the next steps. If you are someone that knows "something just doesn't feel right" or, maybe something has gone horribly wrong and ready to simply begin exploration, then we'll begin there. My job is to help you get to the next step no matter where you are starting and then, the next step after that. In this way we make meaningful progress and growth.
Cash - $80 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
Amerihealth Administrators
Amerihealth NJ Medicare Advantage
Anthem
Blue Cross Blue Shield
GTEB
Humana - Medicare
Humana Dual (Medicare & Medicaid)
Independence Administrators
Independence Blue Cross
CBT focuses on the idea that our thoughts influence our feelings which influence our behaviors and vice versa! You can imagine the three interacting in a triangle. In this way - we can explore changes you are wanting to make in your life through three lenses - and have many different intervention points where we can make meaningful impacts.
Anxiety and fear are hardwired into us, it's part of our survival. ERP is all about learning methods to recognize what triggers our anxiety/fear, ways to MANAGE it (not control it), and then practicing over and over in various situations until our brain learns to unlearn the fear response.
Having an event or experience in your life that continues to have impacts on you is exhausting - and frustrating. CPT recognizes that many times these experiences continue to impact us because our brains have not been able to completely PROCESS or "make sense of" the event in a way that fits with our world view - and so we stay "stuck". CPT is a method utilizes to help us process those big, life altering changes, so that we can live in a world that makes sense to us again.