Welcome! I am Vanessa Ford, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I have 20 years of therapy and mental health services under my belt. Most of my experience has taken place in a community mental health setting providing therapy to adults and children, along with treating adolescents in the school setting. I was also lucky enough to get some experience in an inpatient unit, ERs, nursing homes, and a state residential facility for children as part of my educational/training experience. I have been told my strengths are making clients comfortable to open up and not feel judged. Therapy should be a rewarding process that leaves you with hope each time we end a session together. I provide individual therapy, group therapy, and family therapy. We are going to get real and have some fun on this journey together. My professional experience covers a wide range of conditions and age groups. Whether you are dealing with depression, anxiety, trauma, mood disorders, ADHD, ODD, or Disruptive Behavior Disorder, I am here to help. We will utilize evidence-based practices together, such as CBT, EMDR, DBT, solution focused, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. I am ready to listen to your concerns and share my bag of therapy tools that will allow you to live your best life. Is every day going to be the best? Absolutely not! Who are we kidding? During our sessions, you will gain a new skill set and have more hope and confidence to get through even the toughest days. When we choose to improve our personal lives, it tends to spread to those around us. Let's get started!
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
During our first session, we will get a chance to know each other and review guidelines for the therapy process. I will lead you through the psychosocial assessment and make this a comfortable experience. I have been doing this for years and know that the first session can be scary. It is my job to make this a comfortable experience for you. We will develop a treatment plan together to make sure we are on the same page with your goals for therapy. Once we establish the plan we will set up regular sessions together. During each session, we will review progress and target your concerns. By the time you are finished with therapy, you will have a good foundation of therapy tools and better insight into how to function at your personal best.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
Every journey is different. Your treatment plan will be tailored to your specific needs and what works best for you.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
My strengths are working with teens, young adults, women, and families. I have a long history of running behavior groups, teen groups, and parenting groups. I commonly have assisted parents build plans to strengthen the bonds with their children and decrease behavior issues. I ran DBT groups for years to assist those living with Borderline Personality Disorder. I am very passionate about EMDR therapy as I have watched so many improve their quality of life, after suffering from residual effects of traumatic experiences. Last, but not least, individual and group therapy for anxiety and depression.