New to Grow
My background covers a wide range of experience working with individuals and groups of all ages, diverse backgrounds and circumstances, and in various professional settings and roles. The professional settings I have experience in range from non-profits, child/family services, crisis intervention, child/youth shelters, psychiatric hospitals, schools, and private counseling. I have worked in many roles as well, including case management, social worker, counselor, teacher, supervisor, director and administrator. The most important thing to know about me is that all of my experience and work with children, families, adolescents, and adults has taught me that in any situation, the people involved who need help and support are much more capable of handling the issues in their life than they may feel like they are at the time they come to my office. Whatever circumstance or issue causes someone to seek help, my role is to assist that person in finding ways they can handle it and with better results for them and their life. I frequently remind clients that there is one thing that every low point in their life has in common: the low points change, they pass, and things are not always like that. Our job is to move that change in a direction that benefits you and will support you in a brighter future.
One goal in meeting clients is to find out about their life, what brought them to seek help through counseling and what goals they have. We'll spend time looking for strategies that fit them and their circumstances. I want to find out about them and start building a relationship they can trust and rely on. My primary goal in our first meeting is to get to know you better, answer any questions you may have, and begin the process of building trust in the therapy and relationship that we will have going forward. Every client that seeks support through counseling is already showing resilience, strength and a desire to change. Some clients will say they feel like they can't change their situation, but with some work, we will find that there are ways people can make productive changes in their life and circumstances, even when they may not see it right away.
Whether it's personal experience or a wide range of professional roles, I bring a great deal of insight to clients in my practice. Problems related to depression, anxiety, communication issues, crisis management and recognizing and changing habits are recurring themes which can be addressed.
If someone is having difficulty managing their emotions, emotional well-being, frequently feeling overwhelmed, intrusive thoughts, feeling depressed or worried most of all of the time, or feeling that they just can't seem to find a positive, stable foundation in their life, they could benefit from professional support of some kind. Therapy is, in large part, a supportive and encouraging exercise that will help someone gain understanding while developing new skills and strategies to help them deal with these issues.
Other specialties
I identify as
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
If you have ever wondered why certain situations or issues seem to automatically bring up strong emotions or seem to have a strong influence on your daily life, then you are asking the right questions that a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach could benefit you. CBT helps a person peel back the layers and investigate why we respond that way. There is usually a reason, or a number of reasons, that we can identify. Identifying these patterns of behavior, some of which we may not even be fully aware of, will give us the opportunity to recognize built-in habits that can be addressed, altered and make a positive change. The outcome will be building new skills that you can use to take back control over your feelings and habits, minimize or eliminate negative patterns in your life, and move on without that influence in your reactions and choices.