LCSW, 13 years of experience
New to Grow
I am a clinical social worker, therapist & life coach. I collaborate with clients in facilitating their ability to navigate their journey through change. I provide clients the opportunity to learn, change and grow, and I provide guidance for them to learn healthy adaptive ways to improve their response to encounters with life stressors and challenging life situations. Clients are engaged in various evidence based therapeutic interventions and the exploration and discovery of their untapped potential, so they can harness the necessary skills and strategies facilitate behavioral change. In the scope of my practice I aim to empower clients through sessions that are based on a holistic, client driven approach. I view clients through the lens of their personal environment, as their well-being is significantly shaped by their environment. In addressing clients presenting issues, I take into consideration the correlation between their presenting issues and their environment; i.e., social, cultural and physical, that contribute to current challenging life circumstances. Focus is given to past experiences and current situations to help them navigate their therapy encounter and future successfully.
I create a calm, safe, welcoming and non-judgmental environment for all clients to foster the smooth establishing of therapeutic rapport that is essential for the forging of a healthy client-patient relationship. My primary goal in the initial session is to listen and validate patients emotions and concerns. I provide active listening and supportive counseling, and I encourage clients to ask questions and to express any doubts or concerns they may have about the therapy process. Overall, I take a client centered approach, prioritizing client education, shared decision-making, and I facilitate respect for clients' individual preferences and values in addressing their physical and emotional needs.
I provide a safe, non-judgmental, therapeutic environment in each session to promote an atmosphere for clients to feel heard, understood, and validated so they are able to be open to explore and share their concerns on topics and emotion that they may consider to be difficult, awkward, or sensitive. I adhere to ethical guidelines of confidentiality by discussing the limits of confidentiality at the onset of the relationship in effort to make clients aware of my legal and ethical duty to maintain client privacy. My therapy approach affords the empowerment and self determination of patients to make their own decisions, fostering personal growth. I believe my greatest strengths that helps to forge therapeutic alliance between my clients and myself are effective communication and collaboration, flexibility, adaptability, empathy, compassion, self-awareness, cultural competence and patience; all of which are integral to fostering positive outcomes for clients in their therapeutic encounter.
It is my greatest desire to provide service to clients who are motivated, engaged, and committed to achieving their desired therapy goals and are willing to actively participate in the therapeutic process. I strongly believe that clients experience best outcome in their therapeutic encounter when they are open to self-reflection, take responsibility for their actions, and are committed to making positive changes in their lives by being actively engaged during the session, open, honest in sharing their thoughts and emotions, and are willing to complete assigned work. I like working with clients who are challenged by anxiety and depression, or clients who are aware of what they desire to achieve from the encounter. Clients who are challenged by anxiety and or depression brings a certain energy that motivates me to join them in their journey of exploration, self-discovery, growth and change.
I implement Cognitive Behavior Therapy to guide patients through techniques of cognitive restructuring. This intervention fosters patient's ability to explore, identify, challenge and change negative thought patterns and behaviors. Cognitive Behavior Therapy facilitates frequent review of patient progress, assigned homework, and it provides a collaborative and structured approach throughout the therapeutic process.
The goal-oriented approach of Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) allows for the process of identifying and building on patient's strengths to achieve positive change. SFT intervention provides the opportunity for patient empowerment that will result in their motivation to create positive changes in their lives.