I have been told, “you are not a typical psychologist,”. I take this as a compliment. It actually was one of my goals when starting out in wanting to do this work. After going through a year in which I suffered a traumatic brain injury and the loss of both of my grandmothers, I sought help. The problem was, I did not feel as if the person sitting on the other side of the room could possibly imagine what I was going through. When I finally did find a psychologist who I did believe could imagine what I went through, she died right when we had started to make some real progress. Although I suffered the brain injury, it affected me so much more physically than mentally. I made a decision to get my advanced degree in psychology and strive to bring my life experiences and knowledge together in order to help people. I work best with veterans and people with disabilities I have worked very successfully with people that have suffered brain injuries as I can, more than imagine but no exactly what you have gone through. I pride myself on being an insight, oriented psychologist. This means my own insight, as well as gaining insight into what my clients have gone through over the years. In the past 10+ years, I have worked fwith thousands of clients with many different cultural backgrounds. I have worked well with victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, cults, kidnapping, refugees, as well as 9/11 and mass shooting survivors. Although I have not experienced a lot of those things personally, after working with these clients, I do have some insight into what they went through.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

I want to get to know you, not necessarily focused on family history in the first session.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

Being a calming presence. Taking a 30,000 foot view e.g., trying to focus more on the macro than micro.

About Toby Unterfranz

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