My Approach to Helping
Our life difficulties can cause us to lose sight of ourselves and lose connection to our personal values, interests, and the beautiful aspects of living. Our human experiences range from joyous and pleasant to difficult and even excruciating. We all experience hard times and painful losses at some point in our lives. Our society in 2023 is fast-paced with demanding schedules, and even good jobs can be hectic. With so much to do and so many stressors and worries, we can become anxious, tense, and on edge. Our minds can keep going over "What if" scenarios and another one pops up as soon as we resolve a worry.
Some of us find ourselves impacted by the devastating effects of having experienced a traumatic event. Even though the trauma happened because of no fault of our own, our minds tend to ruminate on what we should have, could have, or would have done differently. Those thoughts cause us to feel worse, but we can't stop blaming ourselves or feeling like the world has become a totally unsafe place to live.
Loss and change are a part of our human experience too, but our demanding schedules don't slow down when we need to grieve. That can cause healing from heartbreaks and significant losses like the death of a loved one (even a beloved pet) or divorce more difficult. Instead of responding to ourselves with compassion, we've been taught to wonder, "Why can't I just get over it?"
My approach to therapy is to view you as the capable person you are. A person who is able to make positive and lasting life change. You're a person, just like me and anyone else, who happens to be dealing with something painful and difficult. We'll focus on what is occurring in your life and what you hope to gain from therapy. Together we'll develop goals for therapy. I'll put together a treatment plan by applying the therapeutic approaches and techniques that best fit your unique needs.
I've been a therapist since 2010 and have extensive clinical training. I've served as a therapist at non-profits, The Department of Veteran Affairs, and community-based mental health centers. I'm trained in several evidence-based therapy approaches, including a gold-standard trauma-focused therapy (Cognitive Processing Therapy). I'm Certified in Clinical Anxiety Treatment and a Certified Telemental Health Therapist (specializing in online therapy).