My Credo
I believe that therapy and coaching should be collaborative processes, with the purpose of identifying, defining, and strategizing how to reach the goals that are important to you.
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We all have no control over many facets of our lives, such as the family we were born into, the medical diagnosis just handed down, our inherited physical traits, or who happens to be our boss. In spite of that, we can always choose to be the person we want to be in the actual circumstances of our lives. The person you want to be is based on what is most important to you, or what together we have identified as your top values as a human being in the world in which you live.
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The joy I find as a counselor and as a coach is seeing the positive differences in your life that result when your values become the basis of what you do and say, even in the most challenging situations.​
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My Clients
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The clients I work with are often people who describe themselves as "different". Common experiences they describe include feeling alone or lonely or shame from how they perceive others are judging them.
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These are folks who often experience life through a neurodiverse lens, with traits of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD).
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My clients have experienced trauma and complex trauma (PTSD/CPTSD) and find themselves avoiding particular people or activities in an attempt to avoid the helplessness and pain they felt during the original traumas.
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Many of these folks have resorted to using unhealthy coping behaviors, such as binge-eating or perseverating about potential future harms or creating lengthy safety rituals.
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These kinds of behaviors may either result from or may lead to anxiety, depression, relationship conflict, low self-esteem and other painful experiences.
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These may be some of the reasons you are thinking about starting (or re-starting) psychotherapy. If so, I would like to be your partner on your healing journey.
Services
What I Offer
Psychotherapy
A theory called "Let Them, Let Me" has recently become the rage in self-help podcasts and videos. The book describing the "Let Them Theory", authored by Mel Robbins and her daughter, Sawyer, is a condensed version of what therapy with me is all about.
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"Let Them" is about living your life based on your values. I use the research-validated and time-tested approach called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you identify and consistently live your values, being the person you want to be. It is a creative and joyful process and is life-changing in so many positive ways.
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Partnering with me in therapy will be an exciting, creative journey toward healing and toward a life filled with purpose. You will feel accepted and respected for the person you are today as we imagine together the life you want to build.
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ACT is fundamentally a humanistic, client-centered approach to therapy. A client-centered approach in therapy may entail simply listening, affirming, and supporting you as we brainstorm together what is next.
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For deeply embedded or long standing issues and patterns of behavior, I have discovered that a process called Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) can create seemingly magical healing. This modality is my preferred way for healing PTSD/CPTSD.
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I am conversant as well with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is useful for changing unhelpful thought patterns, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), which is useful for managing strong emotions and relationship conflicts. Ultimately, though, we will decide together what works best for you, perhaps after experimenting with several therapy modalities.
Have additional questions that need answering? Get in touch.
Life Coaching
The therapy and coaching aspects of my practice are similar in many ways. My approach to both is to celebrate your individuality and create a roadmap for life based on what is most important to you and on the qualities of personhood you want to express.
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Unlike therapy clients, my life coaching clients have dealt with past traumas. They have learned to accept who they are in all aspects of their being and have learned healthy ways of coping with distressing thoughts and emotions.
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Coaching clients are ready to thoughtfully design the path that will lead to the destination that coaching has helped them envision. They are ready to create the concrete steps they will take, when and how they will negotiate the steps, seek out places on the path they might stumble, make a plan to regain their balance, and commit to taking the first step and then the next along their path. My role is to help each of you evaluate options and make decisions by encouraging you and supporting you in being open to new perspectives and new possibilities.
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Together we make dreams manifest in your life.
Have additional questions that need answering? Get in touch.
"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change."
Carl Rogers
