Tonya Brown
Over the past 18 years, I have had the pleasure of working with diverse populations including Serious Mental Illness specializing in trauma and personality disorders, Addiction including those involved in the Criminal Justice System and Child Protective Services, LGBTQ, and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Four of those years were spent in a hospital Emergency Department, which focused primarily on crisis interventions. I earned my Master of Social Work Degree from University of Southern California with an emphasis on children and families and have certifications in Trauma Informed Care, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
First session
The first session will be about getting to know each other! You are encouraged to share your experiences, your motivation to engage in therapy, and your goals for our time together.
Strengths
The biggest strength I feel I can bring to our sessions is be the ability to individualize my approach to your needs.
Ideal clients
My dream client is someone who is motivated to work in therapy to make positive changes in their life. Over 18 years, I have worked with just about every population and have seen success in those clients that work toward goals despite the diagnosis. The ability to build rapport is important and I prefer to do weekly sessions and have clients show up consistently in order to establish trust and develop therapy goals.
Treatment methods
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
Dialectical is the understanding that two opposing truths can exist at the same time. First, we will work on the acceptance of your current situation and then we will develop skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness to reduce impulse control working toward positive changes.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing is about assisting you in understanding your capacity to make positive changes and overcoming the barriers that are holding you back. We will work collaboratively to develop goals with the understanding that you have the right to self determination.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
Over time, we all develop maladaptive thought processes that limit our ability to thrive. CBT is about recognizing these and reframing them.
Location
Virtual sessions
Identifies as
Top specialties
Other specialties
Licensed in
- ArizonaLicense LCSW-23074
- CaliforniaLicense 136810
- IdahoLicense 2971472