I have been very well trained by top experts in the field. They helped me cultivate my understanding of the human experience. Mental health and psychology are for all people. All humans have issues and problems. However, it takes courage to look at our lives, process painful events, feelings, or experiences, and take action steps to make changes. The journey will take you from surviving to thriving! The symptoms you are experiencing, such as anxiety and depression, can be alarms letting you know something isn’t right.
Psychotherapy is an excellent opportunity to address and go beyond managing your symptoms. I like to help clients stabilize, further explore their lives, and make sense of their past and how it may affect them presently. My expertise lies in helping you reduce your symptoms to live the life you truly desire. We will remove whatever obstacles may be in your way through honesty.
I encourage people to look at what is really going on – I have people become truly honest with themselves. Honesty is the hallmark of the work I love to do. By being honest with yourself, you can learn to navigate whatever comes your way by accurately addressing and processing what is causing your suffering. My approach to therapy helps you to change, not just feel better. I will help you with symptom reduction and stabilization. You will feel better! But for me, symptom management is just the beginning. The next phase of the work will enable you to live aligned with your values, thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs. There is harmony and peace in having a stabilized sense of self and living a fully engaged life.
The therapeutic relationship acts as a change agent. I care deeply, am accountable, and my clients trust me. In many ways, I fill in the things the client needs and did not get growing up, creating a safe environment for them to explore finding and living as their authentic self. I help the client see blind spots, develop an accurate and sometimes painful sense of reality, conceptualize, connect the dots, and figure out an artful way to deliver the message. My clients develop skills to manage their symptoms, build awareness, and move from black-and-white thinking to embracing alternatives, choices, and perspectives. They develop better relationships with themselves and others and become more psychologically minded.
You will experience me as passionate, concerned, empathetic, direct (when called for), active, amiable, genuine, and non-judgmental. I engage clients by asking thoughtful questions, sharing stories as appropriate, and allowing my personality to come through in sessions.
I also have an expertise in working with folks who experience attention and inattention concerns (ADHD). I have ADHD, which drew me to training with Dr. Lara Honos Webb – the ADHD expert who wrote the Gift of Adult ADD. Her strength-based approach helps me help you better understand your wiring while identifying areas that need to be upgraded. Through our work, we help you change from running on your default settings to consciously making choices that better serve you.
I often help clients with one or more of the following in our work together:
Depression: Discover the origins and develop skills to manage depression
Anxiety: Reduce worry and stress to live more optimally
Relationship Issues: Assist in your journey toward empathy and effective communication
Regulating emotions: Develop the skills to manage your mood effectively
Self-Esteem: Evaluate your thoughts and feelings about yourself
Development: Explore and understand how issues from childhood or the past are affecting you presently
Life Transitions: Identify the choices, options, and alternatives you may have
Personal Growth: Grow and change in the way you desire
Defenses: Work through obstacles, roadblocks, and defenses to live the life you want to live
Presence: Helping you to live more in the present, not the past or the future
Self-Awareness: Work toward identifying your wants, needs, and desires
Meaning: Uncover what is truly important to you
ADHD: Identify your strengths and develop the skills to manage ADHD tendencies
Problematic Gambling: Stop suffering through making healthy choices