LPC, 13 years of experience
New to Grow
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of NJ. I have some other letters behind my name too!-MA (that's master of the arts in clinical mental health counseling), NCC (National Certified Counselor), ACS (Approved Clinical Supervisor), CCTP (Certified Clinical Trauma Professional), EMDR-C (Certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), C-DBT (Certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy), PMH-C (Perinatal Mental Health Certified) and recently working towards my certification in Brainspotting after taking Phase 1 and 2 classes.
Information gathering and rapport building by figuring out a plan (together). I want you to feel comfortable in the therapeutic process above all. I don't want to tell you what you should do- I want to guide you to what feels right for you!
So now that you know my credentials, what does that all mean? I show up to therapy as my authentic self, so that you, as the client, can do the same. I want therapy to be a safe place to land and a place where you can explore all the parts of yourself, including trauma. I want to help you identify and break the patterns that are holding you back from living your best life. I like to create an informal environment while still maintaining stringent boundaries. Treatment goals and benchmarks are important, but it's also important to laugh in session!
It has been my area of expertise to work with trauma and I have come to believe as a cornerstone of my practice that trauma is widely defined and how it manifests depends on the client. Who am I to define what has affected you most?
I have been trained in EMDR for 5 years now and it is my favorite modality to use with clients that are recovering from a traumatic event to be able to change cognitions and reconfigure neural pathways.
I recently trained in Brainspotting and I find it to be an extension of my EMDR experience.
I really enjoy working with couples to build communication and assist in changing negative patterns.
I like to utilize DBT to teach distress tolerance skills to stabilize mood.
The client is in the driver's seat-I just act as snow tires or navigation.