My Approach to Helping
.My counseling style is engaging, collaborative, and flexible. I provide assessment and counseling services that are strengths-based and help people harness their inner resources to heal and grow. I believe cultivating healthy relationships, strong community support, and a healthy sense of self are essential to making lasting positive changes.
In my opinion, a strong, trusting therapeutic alliance is vital to successful treatment. As we work together we will draw on your innate strengths and interests and use them to overcome your presenting challenges.
I provide mental health services primarily to teenagers and children with mood issues, behavioral concerns, and poor impulse control. I also work with families that have been affected by discrimination or trauma. I have advanced training in family systems therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and psychodynamic approaches. I provide personalized treatment and encourage clients to use alternative forms of expression such as journaling, expressive arts, or music.
More Info About My Practice
I utilize a collaborative therapeutic model when offering psychological assessments. The assessment process helps families and children to gain deep personal insights into their strengths, issues, connections, and about themselves. This is the first step toward making real change that lasts a lifetime.
How Psychotherapy Can Help
Each stage in our life offers unique challenges and struggles, and these moments of stuckness allow us to re-examine our values, relationships, and needs. Transitional periods in our lives are a natural starting place for therapy. Therapy allows us to understand and make a "map" of where we've been and where we'd like to go. For young people who are still developing their core identity, therapy allows space to experience and process strong emotions, develop coping skills, and test out ways of "being" in relationship to others.
It's also important to highlight the benefit of forming a therapeutic relationship. Relationships are key to success in psychotherapy! In therapy, you'll be able to practice new ways of interacting with others, develop new patterns, and connect the dots on how you want your relationships to be. Research in the field indicates that a strong and caring relationship with one's therapist and a sense that we can work together to make change are two of the biggest predictors of success. With these things in mind, it's incredibly important to find a therapist who is a great fit.
