Hi! I'm a licensed mental health Counselor and Occupational Therapist with about 30 years of experience working with adults struggling with mental health issues. I especially like working with people who are struggling with anxiety in their lives because I know I can make a real difference. I like to treat anxiety with a combination of helping you to identify those things that trigger your anxiety, CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy), and teaching you coping & relaxation skills.
I understand that starting with a new therapist can be intimidating and scary, so I try my best to make it as easy as I possibly can for you. Our first session together is spent getting to know each other and me asking a bunch of questions to try and understand what's going on. Most people tell me afterwards that it wasn't nearly as hard as they thought it would be, and that they feel less anxious afterwards.
My strength in working with people is that I've been doing this for a long time and have learned a lot of different methods of helping you. If you haven't found CBT to be helpful in the past, or if you absolutely hate meditation, it doesn't matter because we can tailor an approach that will work for you.
I like to fit my treatment to what a person brings into therapy, and adjust what I do to how they are responding. I often use elements of CBT, Alderan, RET, inner child work, mindfulness, DBT, motivational interviewing, polyvagal theory, solution-focused therapy, and many more. So basically, I use whatever tools I think will help you the most.
I use CBT therapy when the client is coping with a lot of emotions such as with anxiety disorders or anger issues. It's also been great helping folks with insomnia or sleeping disturbance. CBT helps you to identify and change thinking patterns and behaviors that can be holding you back. I have seen it help so many people.
I think mindfulness exercises are wonderful tools for us all to have in our back pockets! If you come asking for coping skills, chances are I will introduce at least 1 mindfulness activity to you. Mindfulness will work with your autonomic nervous system to help you better regulate your emotions. It can be especially helpful with people who are experiencing anxiety, addictions, ADD, excessive stress, and many other concerns.
Polyvagal theory is relatively new, but the research shows it to be really promising. It pairs really well with CBT and mindfulness therapy and can help you to calm an overactive nervous system so that you can face the world calmer and more confidently. It also helps with social connectedness and anxiety or fear and so can be very helpful in those of us with trauma in our backgrounds.