Licensed to practice in 2 states and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Addiction / Substance Use, Foster Care/Adoption, Life Transitions and 9 more.
(she/her)
New to Grow
I'm a licensed clinical social worker with experience working with adolescents, families, and the elderly in both Maryland and the District of Columbia. I have worked in various private practices over the years and I teach social work practice and research at the college level. I am interested in human behavior and assisting people with finding their path to a happy, healthy, productive life.
I hope a new clients feels less afraid, more willing to trust both me and the process, and is knowledgable about what lies ahead.
I am likely to listen but push back when it is appropriate.
My ideal client is an individual who is curious about the therapeutic process and believes this work adds value to their life. This person may not have participated in a therapeutic relationship in the past but is absolutely willing to try to work with me to resolve issues in their life in a way that they can refer back to and try in subsequent difficult situations.
CBT is really about recognizing and paying attention to what yor brain tells you. For instance if your brain tells you the color blue looks terrible on you, you will not buy anything blue. But the besutiful thing about the brain is that you can re-train it. It is elastic, it can hold many truths, and it can be re-directed. So what we are going to do is notice what your brain is telling you, write those things down and talk through them, and then we are going to write new scripts. This is your chance to be a Hollywood producer. New scripts produce new behavior.
Human beings like stories. We tell stories all the time--that is how we learn asnd remember stuff that is important to us. You have a story of your life--can you tell me what you would say to somebody you just met about your life? I'm hearing that it wasn't all perfect--there were some challenges in there and you figured out a way to overcome them. What you and I are going to do for a while is figure out how you overcame those challenges. We are going to look closely at what you did, when you did it, and how it made you feel while you were doing it. Then we are going to pick out the best of your methods and talk more about it. Then we are going to see if that method might work with what you are facing now. If not, we'll pick another one of your overcome stories and try that.