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What do you specialize in treating?
My clinical expertise is working with people suffering from a range of behavioral health challenges including trauma, addiction, relationships, depression, and anxiety. These broad-based labels are really starting points that most often lead to exploring underlying shame, grief, and isolation. Collectively, these problems get in the way of normal emotional and relational development, resulting in painful and challenging relationships. My work is about exploring with you to see the big picture, and understand how symptoms, underlying core issues, and problem relationships are all interconnected. This then provides a foundation for working developmentally to not just treat one issue, but instead intervene on the whole of your life struggles in a way that optimizes your abilities to deal successfully with the messiness of life.
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Why should I come see you?
Seeing any counselor takes courage because it means opening yourself to the process of self-exploration, to uncovering the unknown. As each of us is living our story, we find ourselves exposed to unexpected twists and turns in the road, burdens we pick up and carry with us in the weight of our memory, mind, and body.
The burdens carried are different for everyone, but they tend to stick with us in pieces of our selves we wish to disown, forget, or that tap into our shame. And pausing to inventory these burdens, to look into a dark space, can be scary when you are unsure of what lies beneath. But we all carry a pack on the road of experience, and the more that goes into it, the heavier our load in life. Part of therapy is about lightening the load, and doing it in a safe, slow and productive way. It is a courageous journey and not for everyone.
There are few absolutes in recovery. Therapists and therapies are very different. There is no one perfect therapist or particular type of therapy that is better than all others. What works for one person may not work the same way for another. What we do know about outcomes is that the best predictor of success in counseling comes from the strength of the therapeutic relationship. This really comes down to how well we connect, share, engage, trust, and feel when we are together.
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What form does your counseling take?
Usually I work individually with clients, seeing most for one session each week unless there is a need for more contact. Occasionally I will also work with family members or couples, but often I find it beneficial to work individually or in groups with clients and refer couples work to colleagues. If this is something you are interested in, please contact me.
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How do you evaluate my issues and develop a treatment plan?
Our work begins by understanding your challenges within the context of a systems approach. This means we take time to understand the various pieces of your life puzzle, how these pieces dynamically interact, and which ones are key to helping you move in a positive direction. We call these key pieces leverage points, because when we identify and intervene upon them, they have the power to influence many other aspects of your life. This is helpful because it means we use your time and resources wisely.
Leverage points are often not obvious and can take time to emerge. Examples include: Uncovering missed or incorrect diagnoses, changing intervention strategies, or focusing on what you want in life versus trying to solve a problem. With a 168 hours in a given week, it’s critical that our time together gets you where you want to go.
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What does your initial counseling approach look like in practice?
I am a firm believer in the idea that knowledge is power. So one component of my counseling approach is to help you better understand your life struggles so you are empowered to take steps to improve your situation. While we are taught many things in school, sadly some of the most important things about life, relationships, emotions, and creativity are ignored.
Even more, when we find ourselves struggling with challenges like trauma, depression, addiction, grief, or shame, it can feel overwhelming knowing where to start. So I spend time helping you learn how to navigate information overload, and connect with resources that are current, evidence-based, and most importantly help you understand what change strategies may work best for you.
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How do you help me change?
While a bit of a catch-phrase, the counseling I do is always individualized. There are no one-size-fits-all approaches to addressing the complexities of your life. In general, my style is a mix of talk therapy with interventions that focus on helping you better connect with your body and emotions. Talking facilitates understanding, insights, and important Ah-hah moments that motivate change. Yet many of the most challenging issues like trauma and addiction require a more somatic, or body-based approach to healing.
If you are unfamiliar with these types of interventions, you are not alone. Many believe counseling is all about talking, but somatic approaches and adventure therapy are evidence-based practices that also produce insights and Ah-hah moments using the wisdom from our body and emotions. I blend these approaches with talking to help you achieve the outcomes you seek.
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Do you measure outcomes?
Yes! Often those who engage in counseling have a vague idea about what outcomes they desire. Most just want the problems for which they seek therapy to resolve and go away. But outcomes ultimately provide accountability for me as a clinician, and for you as a client. They help establish measurable targets that we can use to assess our progress in working together, and whether we need to change our approach. We may opt to measure outcomes using various assessment tools and collaborate to determine what outcomes are most important and how to track them.
Some clients may prefer outcomes to be a less traditional process, without the use of forms and measurement tools. If this sounds like you or a loved one, know that we will still have direction and purpose in our time together. However our progress will be feedback-informed and measured through check-ins and self-reflection rather than assessments.
At any point in time we may determine that we have reached a natural transition in the therapeutic alliance. This may be because you have achieved an outcome, successfully made an impactful life transition, or because there may be a refferal better suited to connect with you. As I regularly emphasize, what's most important for your outcomes is how well you can authentically relate and share with your therapist.