Helping People Find Therapists & Advocating for Ethical and Healthy Therapy & Marriage Counseling Practices

My Approach to Helping

I believe that each of us has an innate drive toward health and wholeness. Self-destructive behaviors and harmful patterns of thinking can often be attributed to very normal and even healthy attempts to apply coping strategies that are either ineffective or outdated. My role is to help people recognize and adopt new strategies that are more effective and satisfying. I believe in following the innate sanity each of us possesses.

 

More Info About My Practice

I have extensive experience working with adolescents and young adults facing challenges such as learning disabilities, addictions, family conflict, and identity crises. I have experience teaching and using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with diverse populations. My approach is very individualized and personal.

 

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

Because of my training and experience as a teacher, I feel very confident working with young people experiencing challenges in school. This would include exceptional learners with recognized disabilities, as well as other students who suffer from things like test anxiety, social anxiety or alienation, or interpersonal conflicts at school and home. I believe that I can help parents of these student, and the students themselves, form a more fully integrated picture of their situation by exploring the complex interaction between mental health, individual learning styles, ability, and motivation.

 

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

Because of my training and experience as a teacher, I feel very confident working with young people experiencing challenges in school. This would include exceptional learners with recognized disabilities, as well as other students who suffer from things like test anxiety, social anxiety or alienation, or interpersonal conflicts at school and home. I believe that I can help parents of these student, and the students themselves, form a more fully integrated picture of their situation by exploring the complex interaction between mental health, individual learning styles, ability, and motivation. Furthermore, I think that I can help parents of exceptional learners better understand and support their students by listening to and acknowledging their concerns, fears, hopes, and questions.

 

My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy

I believe that the purpose of psychotherapy is to assist people in hearing their own innate wisdom through the noise and clutter of the world.

 

On the Fence About Going to Therapy?

I start by reassuring people that they are normal, healthy, and that I will never judge them, no matter how difficult their situation is. I explain that each of us is really doing our best to be healthy, and that their troubling thoughts or behaviors are best understood as attempts to make things better for themselves. When possible, I explain that others have overcome similar situations and ways of thinking, and offer to stay with them as they explore new ways of being. I also tell clients that I have personally explored the strategies and techniques I employ, and that while I cannot guarantee that they will be effective in their situation, they have worked for me or my clients, and that I will continue to offer support even when things don't work out.

 

Important Factors for Choosing a Therapist

I think the most important factor in choosing a therapist is comfort and trust in the relationship. Clients should really know that their therapist hears them and trust that he or she is able to provide unconditional positive regard. When a client feels that they can tell their therapist anything without fear of judgement, and when they are confident that they will receive honest and respectful feedback (even though it might be difficult or painful), the therapeutic relationship has a good chance of benefitting the client.

 

What I Say to People Concerned about the Therapy Process

As an outside observer, my role is to monitor my clients for signs that they are becoming overwhelmed. I teach specific strategies, such as those drawn from DBT, for tolerating distress, and I make sure that clients have support before we dig into really difficult areas. Finally, as a grounded outsider, I can offer a different perspective when clients begin to feel overwhelmed, and explain their experience in the context of healing and growth.

Services I Provide

• Individual Therapy & Counseling
• Marriage, Couples, or Relationship Counseling
• Family Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Mediation
• Coaching
• Consultation
• Online Counseling / Phone Therapy
• Home-Based Therapy
• Other

Ages I Work With

• Children
• Teens
• Adults
• Elders

Languages I Speak

• English

Groups I Work With

Students, exceptional learners, divorced men, parents, co-parents, blended families, learning disabilities

Therapy Approaches I Use

• Anger Management
• Art Therapy
• Authentic Movement
• Body Psychotherapy
• Body-Mind Psychotherapy
• Client-Directed Outcome-Informed Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy /REBT
• Collaborative Therapy / Collaborative Language Systems
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
• Conflict Resolution Therapy
• Contemplative Psychotherapy
• Creative Art Therapy
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
• Dreamwork & Dream Analysis
• Emotion Focused Couples Therapy
• Emotional Freedom Technique
• Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
• Existential Psychotherapy
• Family Systems Therapy
• Gestalt Therapy
• Guided Therapeutic Imagery
• Holistic Psychotherapy
• Humanistic Psychology
• Integration of different therapy models
• Internal Family Systems
• Interpersonal Psychotherapy
• Mindfulness Based Approaches
• Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
• Non-Violent Communication
• Parent Work
• Person Centered / Rogerian
• Positive Psychology
• Positive Psychotherapy
• Reality Therapy
• Relational Psychotherapy
• Sand Tray / Sand Play Therapy
• Self Acceptance Training
• Self Psychology
• Shamanic Journeying / Psychoshamanic
• Somatic Experiencing
• Somatic Psychotherapy
• Transpersonal Psychotherapy

Concerns & Issues I Help With

• Abuse: Emotional, Physical, or Sexual
• Trauma
• Occupational & Academic Issues
• Life Changes
• Social Skills & Problems
• Emotion Management
• Anxiety, Fear, & Stress
• Family Problems
• Childhood & Adolescence
• Relationships & Marriage
• Addictions & Compulsions
• Depression & Mood
• Health & Body
• Identity Issues
• Self-Esteem & Confidence
• Sexuality
• Attachment
• Spirituality
• Self-Harm & Suicide