My passion for helping others, and, thus, becoming a therapist, stemmed from a significant loss I experienced a number of years ago. This experience led me to a life-altering decision whereby I decided to become a licensed clinical social worker. I am deeply committed to enhancing your well-being by focusing on your current needs. My primary function at the outset of a relationship is engaging with you. I want to get to know what your needs are and ensure that you are comfortable expressing those needs to me with an understanding that I do not pass judgment. My goal for you is to enhance your self-esteem, improve your relationships, and to help you gain insight and clarity in your life so that you can live a meaningful, content life. My philosophy is one that avoids happiness as an end goal, as I believe that happiness is fleeting, and that having happiness as a goal often leads to disappointment. Rather, it is contentment that leads to a satisfying and fulfilling life. I have particular expertise in counseling men and couples.
Prior to beginning any intervention, it is critical that I gain insight into your background to understand the nature of your childhood environment, relationship with family members and friends, your likes and dislikes, among other things. I then take an acceptance-based approach through an intervention known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by having you accept, rather than negate, your current thought pattern. I also use Motivational Interviewing to strengthen your motivation to effectuate positive changes in your life, including overcoming addictive behaviors. Throughout each session, I feel it is important that you become a partner in the therapeutic process by making you aware of the intervention used in addition to what the intervention attempts to accomplish.
In order to have a good relationship with a therapist, it is necessary for a client to feel an immediate connection with the therapist from the first greeting. This feeling sets the tone for the therapeutic relationship. My general nature, enhanced by social work values, makes my therapeutic interventions highly person-centered. A therapist must be able to listen to you without passing judgment and begin the therapeutic alliance by starting where you are, not where the therapist thinks you are or where the therapist wants you to be. It is important for a therapist to "check in" with you at the end of each session or during session, where necessary, to ensure that you are satisfied with the therapist's intervention or that the intervention is helpful.
Additional areas of focus: Family conflicts, Grief, Intimacy-related issues, Parenting issues, Anger management, Career difficulties, Coping with life changes, Coaching, Compassion fatigue, ADHD
CT LCSW 8701