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

My Approach to Helping

The approach that I use in counseling is mindful of how social ideas about family, sexualities, genders, age, class and cultural background significantly influence people's experience of life, and development of identity. I am vitally interested in the unique skills and knowledge developed by each person in the course of living their own life. The client and I work collaboratively to help the client notice these skills and knowledges. In the course of therapy clients also discover times of success that have been buried by a problem's influence and power in his or her life. In this way clients can change their relationship with the problems they struggle with, gaining control and self- agency over their own life. The client's identity, who her or she wants to be in the world, is solidly created and developed.

 

More Info About My Practice

I offer sliding-scale fees.

 

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

I am comfortable helping people who struggle with the effects of domestic violence and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, eating disorders, chronic and life-threatening medical problems, and parent-child conflict. I have great understanding of how the problems influence people to act in ways they prefer not to, struggle with relationships, and at times devalue themselves.

 

What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist

I have great interest in meeting people and such curiosity about their lives, in particular, the ways in which they have at times managed to a ok'd a problem's influence. I enjoy collaborating with clients and helping them discover their own successes against a problem's influence. There is also great joy when a client decides who and how they want to be in tne world and take the steps to become tnis person. I am excited to be a witness to these steps.

 

How My Own Struggles Made Me a Better Therapist

Each of us struggles with problems in our own lives. Some of the issues I've dealt with have given me "inside knowledge" about their effects and influences on me, about what negative ideas I conclude about myself because of these problems. Each of us most likely resolves these struggles in different ways, so that what may have worked for me might not be the answer for someone else. Yet, because I've had my own struggles, I have experienced the positive changes that can occur for someone. I am able to offer hope to clients, and to hold that hope for clients until they have gained power over their struggles.

 

What I Say to People Concerned about the Therapy Process

I have great calmness, empathy and compassion when listening to clients, and because I have seen people who have had horrific experiences, I have learned to stay with the client when they may relate something painful or traumatic to me. I let them know that I am sharing in this conversation with them by remaining calm and gentle, repeating what I think I've heard them say, asking questions to clarify what it is I've heard, and showing that I am ever present when they're relating painful feelings and experiences to me.

Services I Provide

• Individual Therapy & Counseling
• Marriage, Couples, or Relationship Counseling
• Family Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Home-Based Therapy

Ages I Work With

• Children
• Teens
• Adults
• Elders

Languages I Speak

• English

Groups I Work With

I work with survivors of domestic violence, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse, as well as issues related to having a chronic medical condition, and ncluding caregiver concerns and burnout, as well as grief and loss. I work with clients from many different cultures and ethnicities.

Therapy Approaches I Use

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy /REBT
• Family Systems Therapy
• Feminist Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Solution Focused Therapy

Concerns & Issues I Help With

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