Engaging in a therapeutic relationship through counseling is a truly unique experience. Unlike any other relationship you may have, such as your spousal and family relationships and friendships, counseling is centrally focused on your own journey of recovery and maintaining mental wellness. Within this relationship, you and your therapist work collaboratively towards the aim of building a clearer picture of yourself, deepening insight, and strengthening communication.
The uniqueness of the therapeutic relationship provides an opportunity for you to try on new ways of envisioning conflict resolution, emotional authenticity, and the roles you choose to take in relationships with others. With the building of trust, support, and unconditional regard, we can see ourselves in new ways. Good therapeutic relationships can allow a deepening of personal respect and empowerment and can lead to new pathways in our relationships with others.
My approach to individual therapy will be truly individualized towards acknowledging your personal strengths and uniqueness. I believe that good therapy comes first and foremost from good and authentic relationships. I utilize empathy, honesty, and humor, helping you to capitalize on your strengths in order to meet the challenges that bring you to therapy.
I draw from many modalities and therapeutic methods, most significantly from humanistic and mindfulness-based approaches to counseling from a trauma-informed perspective. Within this framework I will help you assess and strengthen your foundation of self care and collaborate with you towards making sure you have a strong and safe internal base to build from.
From this foundation and ground, I can work with you to develop a plan utilizing a variety of approaches towards wellness:
We can explore how our thoughts co-create our emotions and affect our behavior through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT).
We can extend this awareness, incorporating mindfulness in order to fully develop a “middle path” between our thoughts and emotions through Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
We can explore how your inherent motivation affects the choices you make in life and experiment with means of bringing into line your personal values, these motivations, and your actions through Motivational Interviewing (MI).
We can explore how to identify unmet needs and review ways of moving through conflict utilizing skills from Nonviolent Communication (NVC).
And we can explore these and other paths more intuitively and creatively.
As a registered Art Therapist, I am trained to help you unlock creativity through the processes of visual art making. You can learn more about individual, group, and family Art Therapy here.