Hello. I am a California Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor that is living in Florida. I am also licensed in Florida and Idaho. I have worked in the mental health field in various roles since 2010. My desire to work with clients stems from always having a desire to help those suffering. I believe that mental health treatment needs to be uniquely individualized to meet the unique needs of each person. This may mean treatment that is culturally sensitive, or just meets the person where they are at regarding their motivation for change.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, we'll get to know each other. I will give you a brief overview of myself and my clinical background. We will then discuss some of the symptoms you're experiencing and which one of them you find problematic and desire to change. I say this because my therapeutic style is open and non judgmental. I will hopefully make the session feel comfortable and like a safe space where you can start being open and honest. We will also verbally go over informed consent for therapy to help you understand more about the services I provide and your rights and responsibilities as it relates to therapy. At the end of our first session, I hope to have understood you better to help provide you with some recommendations for services. After this and providing informed consent, I hope you will have all the information needed to make a decision regarding services with me.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I believe that my unique background as a refugee has given me a lot of diverse experiences living with various cultural populations in different areas of the world. Having had these experiences has made me understand how important the role of culture often is and how culturally sensitive treatment is the only way to treat. My experiences as skills building has given me the ability to communicate effectively with various types of cultures and backgrounds.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I love working with individuals who may need a more non traditional style of therapy or feel like therapy has not worked for them in the past. I also love working with immigrant populations who may be experiencing unique cultural problems. My ideal client is someone coming in with a true desire to change but lacking direction in how to get to a place of change. There's nothing more rewarding to me than to help someone regain their belief in hope and the idea of mental health being treatable.
About Sarah Robilotta
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Fully bookedMy treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT In various ways with most clients. I see CBT as the foundation for therapy with a lot of clients as it's an evidence based treatment for a lot of mental health conditions. Depending on the person, I may use CBT in more formal ways or in conjuction with other treatment models.
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
I have experience in treating trauma and helping clients with a PTSD diagnosis. As part of my treatment, I may discuss CPT as an option to treating PTSD. CPT Is not appropriate for everyone, but has been shown to be very effective for some. The appropriate client would want a more structured and time limited form of therapy that is focused on processing the past trauma.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
My personal background of having grown up as a Iranian refugee immigrant in Sweden has shaped my interest in wanting to work with culturally diverse populations. Throughout my life, I have witnessed the lack of culturally appropriate mental health services offered. When a clinician does not understand a certain client's culture, they will not be able to individualize treatment to meet this client's unique needs. We must accept that traditional treatment models have been created and studied on mainstream populations. The only way for society to truly offer mental health services to all is by offering specialized treatment programs and models that address the needs of specific cultural populations. In my previous work, I have worked really well with middle eastern families and immigrant families struggling with mental health or family dynamic related problems.
Psychodynamic
I believe that the foundation of someone's current concerns and problems often stems from past history and both conscious and unconscious influences. By understanding why we may engage in certain behavior, we will gain important insight and awareness that may help motivate and shape change. Often, certain clients may need to dig deeper and understand how their symptoms may have formed over time in order to truly commit to change. This type of treatment is not for everyone but can be life changing for those clients who come in and say things like "I just want to know why I act like this." What's important with this treatment model is that it will not work without also implementing other methods that are more aimed at skills building. Understanding the source of your symptoms is simply just the beginning of the change in your life.
Child Parent Psychotherapy
The core of my treatment relies on treating the entire family system. By healing the family system and the dynamics of the family, I believe that the identified client's symptoms will be treated. It's important to note that not all problems are treated with this model, and this treatment method may often be used in conjunction with other methods. I will however not work with minors unless the family is committed to being fully invested in treatment and engaging in child/parent focused therapy.