Hi there! I'm Rachel! Are you struggling to navigate everything life is throwing at you in the increasingly hectic world? I love exploring deep down the funnel of emotions with my clients using DBT, Person-Centered and Cognitive Behavioral strategies. Together we can tackle your anxiety, depression and the relational issues that come into play that keep you from being your ideal self, whether that be in your relationships, your family, your career, or another important area of your life. If you are fighting feelings of depression and anxiety, and struggling with self-compassion, I'd love to walk with you as you work to heal. In our sessions, we will explore who you are and what matters to you. We will tackle thought patterns that aren't serving you and work on new ways to interact with your thoughts and feelings that serve you more effectively. I offer a safe space for my clients to process what circumstances brought them to where they are at, and the gentle push to move forward. I love bringing self-compassion and mindfulness practices to sessions. I can imagine you are exhausted. From whatever pain has brought you here, I know that you wouldn't wish it on anyone else. I know you are probably so much more kind to others than you are to you. I want us to work on changing that. If you're ready, I am too!
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
I think of the first three times that I meet with someone as a trial run. I encourage people who come to me to pay attention to how they feel both while we’re meeting and afterward. My style is not going to work for everyone, and what’s most important to me is that you find someone who feels like a good fit. I like to use my first session with someone in two ways, and I ask you which direction you’d like to go in first. I want to begin to get to know you, and I want the session to be useful. Getting to know each other includes providing time for you to ask me any logistical questions about working together, as well as questions about my experience and therapy style. It’s also a time for me to learn a little bit about you generally and to begin to get an idea of your expectations of therapy. What do I need to know about you to understand where you’re coming from? How you had any experience with therapy before? If so, what was good about it? What wasn’t so good? These questions help me to understand what you’re looking for and if I think we’ll be able to work well together. With some people, this takes our entire first session. For others, they want to get started with the problem they’re coming to therapy to solve. It’s important to me that therapy feels useful to you. For people who are ready to get started right away, we begin with what’s been going on recently and what’s on their minds at that moment. At the end of the first session, I check in with people to see how it felt during the session and if they have any other questions about me or my work. For therapy to be useful, we need to build trust together. This trust-building happens over several sessions. Our first session is an introduction, which is the beginning of forming a trusting relationship together.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
I have found the following treatment methods to be effective for my clients: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Mindfulness/Relaxation/Guided Imagery.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
As a mental health counselor, I help patients overcome psychological challenges, often by guiding and supporting them in learning to change their negative behaviors and thought patterns. It’s a deeply rewarding line of work that I find highly fulfilling.