Therapist Profile

My Approach to Helping

In my practice I see individuals who are dealing with all types of painful problems. At times, life can be very tough with overwhelming circumstances occurring that are beyond any person's normal realm of experience. Learning new coping skills and discovering how to be more self-protective by setting healthy boundaries/limits, thus empowering themselves to make the best decision for their life is the ultimate counseling goal. I have been in the counseling field for twenty-one years working with individuals, couples, families and groups. There are several specialties and certifications that qualify me to work with specific issues of bereavement and loss, terminal illness, addictions and co-dependency, and dual diagnosis. I have years of experience dealing with general mental health issues as well, such as depression and anxiety disorders. During my career I have had the opportunity to work extensively with Adult Children of Alcoholics/Dysfunctional Families, people wrestling with communication difficulties, divorce and remarriage as well as step-parenting. For several years I facilitated cancer support groups in an effort to aid survivors in their fight against a life threatening disease. I enjoy working with people by helping them search for resolutions to their problems. I view the counseling experience as a joint venture where client and counselor come together to find solutions through client self-exploration. With the assistance of the counselor, the client can better clarify what their choices are and strategize how best to achieve the one most desirable to them. The end result of the counseling experience is to enable the client to reach the point where a satisfactory course of action has been decided upon for a troublesome issue.