New to Grow
It is my desire to support you a long your journey. I have experience and training working with many life challenges faced by people of all ages. It is important to provide evidence based, age and developmentally appropriate therapy to meet your needs. This may look like sand tray expressive arts therapy, skills, Psychotherapy, or having family or friends to support your therapy goals. And sometimes we need to talk, I also provide talk therapy.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
We will review the informed consent form together, I will ask if you have any questions or have an understanding of the forms you completed. We will review the results from the questions on the anxiety and depression inventories. We would like to talk about goals, preferences in therapist style or communication that would be important for me to know about. This is a time to set ongoing treatment goals together, it is like a live document we will look at, review, make changes to and celebrate your progress during our therapy time together.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
What makes me unique is the many, diverse experiences and training I have, working with military students at a university, helping with career exploration and pathways. Working with women incarcerated towards earning their GED or adult high school diploma. Completing a Masters of Science in Psychology and working as a School Counselor with elementary, junior high and high school students and their families. Then completing a second Masters degree of Arts in Counseling, focusing on family with addictive behavior. Much of my research includes preventing burn out, secondary trauma in the helping profession. Working as a Counselor with the Native people and Tribal Government. Working with individuals in recovery and relapse prevention for substance use and abuse. Understanding the emotion connected to refusal, feeling hopelessness, helplessness, grieving loss, feeling paralysis, helps us be less judgmental and more aware of what can motivate us, sometimes it is having self compassion for where we have been or the generations before us have been. Watching changes happen, bodies physically change to appear at peace, happy and calm. Using therapy with standards and like tools has been most effective, finding evidenced based therapy to create wellness. Using sand tray, movement and art in Expressive Arts Therapy. Consulting and learning with therapists has given me an increased awareness of the many helpers around us. I am just one and yet I am so happy to have learned from so many people in my life.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
What motivates people to change? And how does one change? These are questions I have been curious about. Providing court ordered interventions and treatment in Arizona and in Washington has helped me to be prepared for working with families and individuals experiencing family conflict including interpersonal partner violence, child neglect and abuse, foster families, anger management. Areas in therapy may include identifying unmet needs, ways to nurture yourself and others, working on effectiveness, time management, productivity, reducing anxiety and depression, feeling overwhelmed and stuck, creating happiness and love.
Christian Counseling
If you are interested in Christian Counseling please ask about this option. If you do not ask I will not provide this therapy in your treatment plan. Therapy may include Christian Counseling if varying levels, sometimes people will ask to have a Christian Therapist to support their therapy, others will ask for therapy to include Christian support such as Biblical references and others may want to have conversations using Christian Counseling as a therapeutic practice.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I provide an Intensive DBT program online groups, individual sessions and DBT skills coaching sessions in between sessions. The bio social theory is the foundation of DBT therapy, sometimes we know what to do but we do not do it. Whether it is our biological or social experience, we can create changes in our thoughts, behavior and emotions using DBT skills and DBT strategies created by the founder of DBT, Dr. Marsha Linehan.
EMDR
I provide EMDR therapy on Telehealth and in person, following the Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) model developed by Francine Shapiro. Sometimes we have physical, emotional, social and spiritual pain, difficulties, feeling stuck or repeating maladaptive patterns from past stressful life events. These may cause present day Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, EMDR therapy has relieved symptoms related to stress, life transitions, childhood developmental trauma, extreme emotions, conflicts in relationships. I use alternating bi lateral stimulation by tapping or movement in EMDR therapy.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I provide CBT therapy, the cognitive model connects our interpretations of situations as the cause of our distress, we can create changes in our feelings by changing our thoughts and behavior, using CBT therapy created by the founder of CBT, Dr. Aaron T. Beck.
Couples Counseling
I provide a safe space for couples to develop skills and practices to improve their relationship within themselves as individuals and within their relationship together. Many people find Gottman Institute approach, DBT therapy, Attachment Focused, Expressive Arts, an/or Trauma Focused Therapies, and even Parts Work as therapeutic when working on their relationships.