Aloha-
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist that lived in Hawaii for 13 years and (now living in Oregon) where I practice counseling in both Washington and Oregon as well as maintaining clients in Hawaii. I have been working in the field of social services for over 20 years. I have practiced counseling and consulting in both private practice and several community mental health agencies for various organizations across the United States. I also offer part-time clinical supervision for a local immigration and refugee organization. I have also been teaching seminars as a Nationally Recognized Parenting Trainer/Consultant for many years and would like to offer my services to individuals with a focus on self-esteem and self-care, communication skill building, and empathy for self and others (as well as laughter and fun)!
My background is in sexology and in addition to sex therapy, my specialties include working with individuals, couples or the whole family around parenting, custody, pre-marital counseling and/or divorce. For individual counseling, I believe it is never just about one person but many other family members and possibly generational trauma's that show up inside of the person seeking help. Although my therapeutic style is predominantly experiential and solution focused, I pull from a wide range of tools, always giving clients choice and preference in how they wish to proceed. I have experience with many emotional situations, and overall I feel that the growth journey is such a personal and often powerful process and I am humbled and grateful to be part of that experience.
I have worked with clients dealing with a range of things: sexuality, trauma, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, parenting, child and/or teen concerns, grief/loss, abuse, eating disorders, addiction, co-dependency, health issues, pain management and wellness counseling.
For my professional and personal growth, I am a huge advocate for self-care and even as a single mother of two teenagers- I work very hard to carve out time to breath, sleep, eat well and exercise. These are not things I have mastered or am an expert in but they are action steps that I practice at getting better at ????. I advocate for health and wellness with all my clients.
As for our therapeutic relationship, I practice open minded, non-judgemental empathy. I believe in learning how to tolerate discomfort, practicing quality communication and sometimes that means having hard conversations at times. I am a fan of home practice and action steps and will give an opinion when asked or simply listen and validate. Other tools that we may draw from include journaling, guided visualization, affirmations, Emotional Freedom Technique, grounding work, therapeutic express arts, mindfulness techniques and narrative or bibliotherapy. I am being trained in DBT (Dialetical behavioral Therapy) and EMDR this year and will be adding both of those modalities to my practice in the near future.
I look forward to working with you!
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SPECIALTIES
• Stress, Anxiety
• Relationship issues
• Sex/Sexuality
• Parenting issues
• Health Counseling (Hormone balance, Pain Management, Wellness Counseling)
I also have experience with: sexuality, intimacy-related issues, co-dependency, LGBTQ, polyamory, kink, parenting issues, trauma, grief/loss, addictions, career difficulties, compassion fatigue, ADHD, OCD, depression, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Personality Disorders, and emotional regulation.
Years of Experience: 14
LMFT #295 (Expires: 12-31-2022)
Additional areas of focus: LGBT, Family conflicts, Trauma and abuse, Grief, Eating disorders, Anger management, Self esteem, Bipolar disorder, Depression, Coping with life changes, Compassion fatigue, ADHD
HI LMFT MFT-295