My Approach to Helping
I believe that we begin our lives in relationship with others whether it is your natal parents, grandparents, adoptive parents, a group home as humans we don't live in isolation. Therefore, I work from the perspective that relationships are the origin of our greatest growth, yet can also be the source of our greatest challenges.
My goal in our work together is to help you as an Individual, Couple, or Family to better understand these multifaceted relationships. Often these complicated relationships come intertwined with other issues which we can also examine together. As your therapist, I provide empathy, compassion and guidance to help you andor your family work through your challenges.
I work with individuals suffering from depression and low self esteem, anxiety and anxiety disorders (fears, phobias, panic attacks, and obsessions), general life stress, the challenge of entering or exiting a relationship (singles and couples), divorce, parenting, career and money dilemmas, sexual concerns and sexual identity issues, addictions, anger management, family problems, step and blended families, body image, sexual abuse, trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, bereavement, and more.
More Info About My Practice
Starting the process of any modality of counseling (individual, couple, family, group) can be empowering, exciting and simultaneously challenging andor anxiety provoking. I am aware and accepting of the wide range of thoughts and feelings that may be brought to our sessions. I support the client in setting the pace of our collaborative work.
My approach is relational and systems which are jargoning words to mean that I believe we are heavily influenced by the people and institutions that have made up our history and current life situation. What I mean more specifically is the impact of our family parents, siblings, relationships, extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins), and our young educational experience. Our family is a system that has influenced us. Our educational institutions are systems that influence us not just educationally but in our social interactions with both peers and teachers. Our journey into adolescence and young adulthood often bring to us the systeminfluence of becoming an employee and the navigation of increased responsibility and life transitions. Health concerns both physical and emotional carry the healthcare and insurance system into our lives. Everyone lives with systems and relationships that greatly impact both positively and negatively our behaviors as demonstrated in our reactions, our feelings, our thoughts and our actions.
Working as a team, I seek to assist you to gain biographical insight and confront obstacles to change, to increase relationship skills, to increase your confidence in decision making and the maintenance of lasting solutions. My work is characterized by intuition, compassion, optimism and collaboration. I am prone to be straightforward without being harsh .I encourage bringing into the room all of your thoughts, feelings, perceptions and experiences both past and present. I am approachable and available to explore what your experience of both the positive feelings and the negative feelings about the therapeutic relationship. For me, there are no bad feelings but we often have negative thoughts about what we perceive to be bad feelings. I welcome you to bring whatever you are prepared to emotionally and verbally bring to my office.
My Role as a Therapist
My role as therapist is collaborator. The client determines the direction of the therapy. I can and do provide feedback when appropriate or when a topic has been thoroughly explored and my thoughts have been requested.
On the Fence About Going to Therapy?
Therapy can be about so many things. For each person it is different. It can be about change, clarity or just needing someone to talk to who is not there to judge you but to listen to what you have to say and to work to determine together what it is you are seeking out of therapy. I work with individuals and also encourage clients to consider group as an eventual adjunct to the individual work. Group can sometimes be an option for someone on the fence as it is a group of people who are seeking change andor clarity in themselves and group can be seen as a microcosm of the world. Finally I would add that those on the fence may call me and set up a complimentary i.e. no fee 20 minute phone consultation to explore if therapy is the next self-caring action you need to do for yourself.
