Services

The Next Step

I know first-hand how scary it can be to ask for help and in fact, it may be the hardest question you ever ask. Things may feel out of control and you may not even know which way to go or how to start. The important thing is you start. You have choices and are never stuck, despite what you may think. In our sessions, I will walk alongside of you to promote safety, security and trust, throughout the entire therapy process. We will work together to assess various dysfunctional life patterns and prioritize the changes you would like to work toward. My hope is to help you process and learn from your past, create peace and happiness in your present and for you to look forward to your future.

Areas of Expertise

I specialize in working with teens, adults, families and couples.
The following are my areas of expertise:

  • Addiction
  • ADHD
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bi Polar Disorder
  • Blended Families
  • Chronic Pain/Illness
  • Codependency
  • Communication skills
  • Couples
  • Depression
  • Divorce or Seperation
  • Eating Disorders
  • Family
  • Grief and Loss
  • Infertility
  • LGBTQIA
  • Life Changes (retirement)
  • Parenting
  • Personality Disorders
  • Pregnancy, Prenatal and Postpartum

 

  • Marriage Counseling
  • Men’s Issues
  • PTSD
  • Relapse
  • Relationships
  • Self-esteem
  • Stress reduction
  • Trauma
  • Women’s Issues
  • Transition to Parenthood
  • Addiction
  • ADHD
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bi Polar Disorder
  • Blended Families
  • Chronic Pain/Illness
  • Codependency
  • Communication skills
  • Couples
  • Depression
  • Divorce or Separation
  • Eating disorders
  • Family
  • Grief and loss
  • Infertility
  • LGBTQIA
  • Life changes (retirement)
  • Parenting
  • Personality disorders
  • Pregnancy, Prenatal and Postpartum
  • Marriage Counseling
  • Men’s Issues
  • PTSD
  • Relapse
  • Relationships
  • Self-esteem
  • Stress reduction
  • Trauma
  • Women’s Issues
  • Transition to Parenthood

Holistic Therapy Approach

I provide a holistic psychotherapy approach for those who are looking to grow, heal and recover from life struggles while journeying towards an improved quality of life. During the treatment process, I focus on the relationship between your mind, body and spirit, in an attempt to understand and address ways one aspect may lead to concerns in another. I will listen to your story and work with you toward achieving and maintaining balance in all life areas.

The following are the various modalities I use during psychotherapy sessions:

  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT)
  • Dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT)
  • Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT)
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
  • Structural family therapy
  • Solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT)
  • Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)
  • Motivational interviewing
  • Psychodynamic psychotherapy
  • Attachment based therapy

Addiction/Co-occurring Treatment

In 2017, I earned an LCADC, and became a License Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor after recognizing many of my mental health clients also struggled with addiction (a co-occurring disorder). I learned and witnessed first-hand from my family, friends and clients the complex nature of addiction. One of my biggest passions is helping people come out of the denial of addiction and into the light of recovery. My holistic approach addresses and treats the underlying causes and conditions of addiction. I strive to remain informed with the latest and most up to date research practices, standards and guidelines administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In addition, I am an active member in my local community, state and nation in the fight against addiction. I believe recovery is a gift of emotional, physical, mental and spiritual freedom and I would be honored to walk alongside of you, on your journey to find hope.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

After years of working with client’s who struggle with mental health and/or addiction, I realized often, clients have experienced a “simple trauma or a complex trauma” during their lifetime. This drove me to want to gain a better understanding of trauma and how it impacts client’s risk of mental health and addiction. EMDR fell in my lap as I never heard of this modality before 2019. In March 2019, I completed level one and two trainings in EMDR with instructors who trained under Francine Shapiro, founder of EMDR. Following this intensive training I completed the required consultation hours with an EMDRIA certified professional in order to obtain my certification. I utilize the full EMDR protocol when working with patients.

EMDR is a type of psychotherapy enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, I guide clients to activate their natural healing processes.

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment process. Eye movements (or bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session. After determining which memory to target first, I ask the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his/her eyes to track my hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision. As this happens, for reasons believed by researchers to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level. Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes. The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them. Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is very effective in helping clients regain control of overwhelming emotions. I have utilized this modality for over ten years after working with clients in an inpatient and outpatient setting. The four modules of DBT consist of: Distress Tolerance, Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness and Emotional Regulation. I assist my clients by building upon their strengths and unraveling their cognitive distortions, while teaching them the modules via role playing, processing and homework review. Individual sessions in DBT focus on decreasing and dealing with trauma responses, along with helping clients enhance their own self-respect and self-image. My training and level of expertise in DBT has allowed me to assist my clients in gaining emotional freedom so they can manage and express their emotions in relationships and feel understood.

Tele-therapy

I have immediate openings for tele-therapy (video or phone sessions).
Reach out today for a free consultation appointments.

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