(he/him)
New to Grow
I have a twenty-eight year background in community mental health. In that time I have worked with people from many different cultures, with wide array of psychosocial stressors and mental health challenges. Over the past eighteen years I have developed unique programing that has brought people together and looked at stories that may otherwise go untold. I have created a twenty-hour training that I offer annually online that helps teach providers how to work witih hard to reach people. Additionally in 2015 I published an award winning memoir of my own experience running into mental health challenges while I was working at a Seattle Housing Authority Section 8 Housing complex. I found that writing the memoir was very healing and it helps give me the confidence to use my own experiences and personality when it can further the work. While this is not always wanted or necessary, I am pretty good about figuring it out when this is the case. And there are definately times it helps. I have run a private practice over the last six years and use trauma modalities like IFS and EMDR and other theories or movements that I have learned over time that further accentuate my work.
There is often a lot of anxiety in a first session. There can often be a lot of pressure to obtain psychosocial information for the sake of diagnosis and intake reports. I believe that this can interfere with setting up an authentic cultural experience between us. Consider the immediate interpersonal chemistry, the past negative or positive experiences in therapy, and the natural uncertainty about opening up and being vulnerable. Thus, I tend to take my time with obtaining information and it is more my goal to meet you where you are at and give you an authentic experience so that you feel comfortable with what you share with me For this reason, I cannot tell you exactly what a first session will look like. People open up in different manners and tell different kinds of stories. I 'd like to note that a lot can be learned about intake information from listening to stories rather than simply giving me intake data. I also give participants the chance to ask me questions about my self in case this help people feel safe. Some people come in needing to share stories and others may prefer a structured interview. It is always my goal to deal with my own anxiety and be there for you. I strive to think on my feet and ask you things as they come up for me. I usually give myself three sessions to fill in the needed information that I might need for the psychosocial intake information. I do informed consent on the second session. I have found I get more satisfied customers this way.
I have often heard that my greatest strength is that I am just a person. There can be a lot of power imbalence in many therapeutic settings. Over time, I have learned that this can get in the way of personal growth and I have found optimal ways to undermine it. For example, as a group facilitator I often find that it can be important not to hog the space and to let other people lead the group to create a safe community environment. Then when I engage I may do so with humor or some creative healing input. When their is a good vibe in the community I find myself best able to participate from my higher self. So it is often my goal to inspire leadership in the group. Sometime the most healing thing to do is to listen and learn from others. I try to bring these same principles to my work with individuals. Thus, when I work with individuals I try not to come from a space in which I know more than you. Instead, I collaborate so we can create an optimal environment and learn from each other. There are times when I think people may be open to it, that I participate or relate to help create a healing vibe. Being in the zone with my higher self present usually makes for a good session and a good day for both of us. At the same time, I have the capacity to go to dark places and be resilient so there is no pressure to be in a positive space. A lot of times healing involves seeing hard things and not giving up. And I seek training that helps me further facilitate that.
I work best with people who tend to feel like they are outsiders and need support. Maybe this stems from challenges during childhood, challenges transitioning to adulthood, or challeges transitioning to our golden years. I have a twenty-eight year career in community mental health and am particularly effective with validating people in navigating systems of care or labels that can be injust or dehumanizing. I feel very comfortable working with people who are in different cultures or facing oppression in a variety of ways.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I have completed a three month IFSCA Course on this modality which gives me an ability to consider the role that internal conflicts have on things like depression, anxiety, and addictive behavior . The goal of IFS is to gain an appreciation of the conflicting parts that we have so we can understand how they developed and how work for us so that we can be more led by our higher self. This gives us a format to de-escalte internal conflicts and heal parts that act out in extreme ways. It also enables us to explore the role that trauma may have in our challenges. I tend to meet you where you are at and use a host of modalities like DBT, CBT, person-centered, narrative, EMDR, or motivational interviewing but I often find the IFS modality to be central to my work.