What's My Approach to Therapy?
Most likely, you’re not looking for a therapist because you feel so awesome, you want to pay someone to talk about it. I know that certainly wasn’t the case for me -- I first sought therapy because I was in a ton of pain (and not the physical kind). If that sounds familiar, first off, welcome. Second, although suffering is painful, sometimes it is the catalyst that can motivate us to make the positive changes necessary to move forward.
Although it might be external circumstances that caused you to start looking for a counselor, I believe it is the internal work that sets us free, and that we all have the capacity to be truly happy. My aim as a therapist is to help you get rid of the parts of you that are standing in the way of this.
I am a licensed professional counselor (LPC), certified addictions specialist, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) trained, emotionally focused therapy (EFT) trained, and Desensitization of Triggers and Urge Reprocessing (DeTUR), an EMDR protocol used in addiction treatment.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
I feel especially effective working with people suffering from addiction issues and depression.
How Psychotherapy Can Help
Being able to process your thoughts and feelings with an objective trained therapist can be extremely valuable.
My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy
I personally believe psychotherapy should help get rid of the emotional junk we have accumulated over our lifetime. Helping people to discover what is working in their life and enhancing that and what is not working in their life and fixing it. I believe everyone has the capacity to be happy and psychotherapy is an excellent tool to help get there.
Had a Negative Therapy Experience?
I've had a number of those myself. Just because you can learn about psychotherapy does not make you a good psychotherapist. In fact I think this field draws a lot of people that should actually spend less time being a therapist and more time being in therapy themselves. Again, I offer a free consultation so you can see if you think we would be able to work together.
How My Own Struggles Made Me a Better Therapist
I have suffered in the past from depression and I believe this has made me much more compassionate and given me a much better understanding about what depression is. It's a difficult thing to understand if you have never been there. I am also sober myself and have been so for 13 years. I believe this gives me a lot of insight into addiction and what overcoming that is like.
