My Approach to Helping
Are you tired of struggling to thrive in relationships with friends, family, and lovers? Are your emotions running your life? Interacting with others can be overwhelming when you have experienced trauma, grief, depression or anxiety. This can lead to coping through addictions or harmful behaviors. I believe we all have the capacity to change and that focusing on strengths can give clients a new outlook on life. Together, we can practice mindfulness, reflection, and positive coping skills. I collaborate with clients to build positive experiences in a caring therapeutic relationship through talking, playing (children), and art.
Trained and experienced in Dialectical Behavior Therapy & skills training, Art Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Attachment therapy, Trauma Informed Care, Solution Focused, CBT, Sand Tray, Positive Psychology, Mindfulness and Spiritual Practice. I can work with Autism Spectrum and other Developmental Disorders, ADHD, trauma, and addictive behaviors.
More Info About My Practice
Art therapy is especially helpful for building insight into subconscious developmental patterns that play out in our daily lives. When traumatic memories occur, the body and mind are impacted in lasting ways. For this reason, sometimes the story cannot be communicated in words. Supportive reflection can alleviate somatic and psychological pain when a trusting and accepting relationship is formed between creative expression and a therapist. This healing often leads to more positive relationships, life patterns, and behaviors. Art Therapy may also use a more open format to encourage mindfulness, physical healing, and play. You can find more information about art therapy here...https:www.psychologytoday.comusblogarts-and-health2019122020-vision-expressive-arts-therapy.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
I am trained to work with complex mental health struggles often combined with addictive behaviors. My life experience has been a journey of discovery with a thread of creative thinking throughout. Because of this, I believe the shape of darkness can be known at times when life becomes too difficult to bare. I enjoy finding strengths in people by listening and seeing their lives as a place where growth is waiting to happen. I work well with adolescence when identity and relationship feel intertwined with early family trauma and upset. I combine dialectical behavioral therapy with training in attachment theory and 20 years of mindfulness practice to formulate person centered treatment plans to address self-harm, relationship and emotional imbalance, panic an somatic issues, and depression with anxiety. With or without art, I use art therapy principles to see a client's struggles holistically. I use this when working with children to create a safe, playful way for families to discover positive solutions to behavioral struggles.