Meghann Moragne El
I made sure to pay attention to the journey, not just the destination, and found myself in the most interesting places. I'm a clinical/forensic psychologist with a background in law in psychology. I specialize in working with niche populations and complex problems and have experience providing high level therapy services in matters related to inappropriate professional conduct, criminal acts/offending behaviors, and sexual addiction, as well as specialized experience working with active-duty military personnel (SOF) and intelligence officers. Also skilled and experienced in treating anxiety, trauma, depression, and personality disorders (Antisocial, Narcissistic, Histrionic, Obsessive-Compulsive, Avoidant). I enjoy creating thoughtful, meaningful, dynamic interventions for clients, relying on empirically derived treatment modalities while manipulating the manner and method of therapeutic delivery, resulting in a singularly unique therapeutic style and experience. The goal of my work is to yield positive outcomes for clients after long periods of therapeutic stagnation. 'Sua sponte' - though not planned and unintended, it turns out I’m the perfect therapist for patients who are seemingly impervious to therapy or who don’t believe therapy works.
First session
Succinctly, it's a mix of logistics-process-content. To get a baseline read and understanding of current symptoms and potential issues, there's a collection of screening forms to fill out. I read everything, so - yes, they're important. It can also alert me to any red flags that may need to take priority as the focus of the session - e.g., active thoughts of suicide or self-harm. Part of the first session is also me explaining what therapy looks like - how the sessions are structured, how session content/topics are decided, what the "rules" are regarding our interactions, etc. I also walk you through the rules and laws about confidentiality & privacy so you know what limits are in place regarding what you share in session. I'm also getting to know you as a person to get a feel for your personality and how you think and feel about the issues that brought you to treatment. You're also deciding how you feel about me and if I'm the kind of person you'd feel comfortable sharing hard things with. At the end of the session, we'll briefly recap and share our impressions of the other to see if we'd like to continue services together.
Strengths
Adaptability, creativity, and fun. If we can laugh at least once a session, we're probably doing something right. Moments of levity during hard times isn't bad or a sign of stagnation/avoidance, and sometimes - all you can do is stoically admit what the situation bears and have a chuckle. One of my unique approaches involves drastic and seemingly bizarre cognitive reframing techniques that tend to evoke a raised eyebrow, if not a spontaneous burst of laughter. While I rely on standard tenets of DBT and CBT treatment paradigms - it's always nice to spice things up a bit, and I tend to use novelty and adaptive linguistic mechanisms to present problems in a different light to facilitate discussion around possible alternative solutions that may have been overlooked or previously discarded by clients.
Ideal clients
I've encountered several 'groups', or types of clients, that tend to do well under my care. Those whose professions tend to lead them towards being more empirically minded and subsequently, are somewhat skeptical of therapy, tend to be open to my more science-leaning approach of identifying and describing psychological phenomenon in the room. Clients carrying dark secrets they're afraid to share - even in therapy - are also a good fit for me. As George Bernard Shaw said - if you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, best take it out and teach it how to dance. People who thrive under challenge - athlete types, military, police/ first responders - are also great candidates. Therapy can be painful, and sometimes a little bloody (metaphorically). It can be really hard and scary to face things that people would rather keep buried. The accomplishment of facing that challenge together is often a surprise reward of the process those patients didn't anticipate when they initially started, and they tend to be the happier for it by the end. And anyone who's ever wondered if they suffer from a behavioral addiction but don't know what to look for, what to ask, or who to ask about it - I can help.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
There are a lot of ways to use cognitive-behavioral interventions to help with a client's problem. At its foundation, it's a way to change your thoughts or how you interpret information from your experiences, which can help change your behaviors. Alternatively, someone can start practicing new behaviors, and by default, their thinking patterns begin to change. It can also be combined with other types of therapies to address a range of presenting issues.
Location
Virtual sessions