LICSW, 5 years of experience
I am a clinical social worker (LICSW) located in western Massachusetts. I hope to support clients in exploring their experiences of relationships and how they relate to others; improving communication; increasing feelings of self-esteem and self-efficacy; building skills to cope with distress and nervous system dysregulation; and recovering from experiences of trauma and invalidation. I use an eclectic therapeutic approach that integrates relational psychodynamic theory with dialectical strategies and mindfulness-based behavioral approaches.
The first session is the beginning of our work to build a strong therapeutic alliance, so that we can work together in the way that best meets your needs and preferences. This can include exploring goals and hopes for treatment, current presenting problems, family and relationship history, previous treatment experiences, strengths, and values.
It's important to me to be someone my clients can trust to be honest, validating, and interested in understanding them better. I value integrity, curiosity, and compassion in my clinical work.
I enjoy working with clients who are interested in knowing themselves better, improving their relationships, exploring and clarifying their values, and finding more effective ways to respond to stress and invalidation. I particularly enjoy working with young adults, and with clients who identify as highly sensitive or experience emotional intensity.
The therapeutic relationship can be a powerful tool in understanding and strengthening other relationships outside of therapy, and in exploring and challenging our working models of relationships. My work is informed and enriched by psychodynamic relational theory, and I aim to support clients in using the therapeutic relationship to bring unconscious relational patterns and dynamics to light, and provide reparative relational experiences (including validation and relational safety) that clients can internalize and bring to their other relationships.
I use dialectical philosophy and validation to support clients in moving out of stuck or polarized positions, recovering from invalidating environments, finding a middle path, and building a life worth living. This can include building mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills, and exploring ways to be more effective in responding to painful or challenging situations.
I use Motivational Interviewing to support clients in clarifying what values are most important to them, enhance intrinsic motivation to take steps toward goals, and increase feelings of self-efficacy.