Hi - I'm Seth, and many of my clients come to me because they struggle with unhealthy relationship dynamics, whether it be in long-term or brand new romantic partnerships, family relationships, or general functioning in interpersonal interaction. I specialize in relationships, addiction, depression, anxiety, and trauma, and have over 20 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families with diverse life experiences and a broad spectrum of personal struggles. I approach each person with unconditional positive regard and encourage authenticity, both in relationships with others and the relationship with oneself. I welcome opportunities to cultivate safe spaces for sharing, thinking, and healing. I bring a gentle, respectful, and accepting demeanor to the therapeutic relationship, supporting emotional awareness, self-appreciation, humor, and celebration as cornerstones of a healthy and resilient foundation for personal growth. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Illinois and completed my Master's degree in Social Work at University of Michigan. When I'm not working with clients, I can be found playing the cello, guitar, or piano; hiking with my family; or perfecting my deviled egg recipe.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Our first session is my opportunity to get to know you: who you are as an individual, what's important to you, and what you'd like to get out of therapy, in addition to biographical, relationship, and work/school info. It's also an opportunity for you to get to know my style as a therapist and decide whether it's a good fit for your needs and goals or not. Over the course of therapy, each session can be a combination of a regular check-in, an opportunity to process and work through personal struggles, psycho-education on mental health topics concerning your situation, and counseling and coaching as needed and desired. Much of this depends on what you bring to each session and what you'd like to get out of each session. My job is to support you in working toward your goals.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
I employ a person-centered, strengths-based approach, primarily utilizing: (1) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), exploring the relationships between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and identifying tools and methods to improve these relationships; (2) mindfulness-based therapy, using mindfulness to better understand personal values and motivations, and work toward disengaging from unhelpful "autopilot" behavior and engage in more deliberate, effective behaviors; and (3) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), learning about and employing "dialectical thinking" to notice the potentially destructive impact of extreme thinking, and pull us out of the "black and white" and into the "gray."
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My strengths, insight, and knowledge as a therapist are particularly exemplified in my work with relationships and addictions, and especially in my use of DBT. The role of rigid, extreme thinking in each of these areas is both tremendous and highly destructive, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy first brings this into focus and then provides a wealth of tools and techniques for overcoming it and immediately enjoying healthier dialogue, whether between two people or two parts of the same mind.