I'm licensed marriage and family therapist and have been practicing for 12 years. I believe our early experiences shape the way we handle distress, problem-solve, and develop relationships. My training in attachment, infant and early childhood mental health, as well as play therapy, have not only served me well in my work with young children but also with clients of all ages since I tend to view current challenges through a developmental lens.
I prefer to match my clinical interventions to the strengths and needs of my clients, so I like to spend some of our first few sessions getting a good history of experiences. In the same way I start with Chapter 1 in a good book, I like to understand my client's early history so we can make sense of current strengths and challenges in the later "chapters." I fully believe therapy should be goal oriented, and can stop and start based on the needs of my clients. Its fairly reasonable to assume our goals might change as we work together, so staying connected and on the same page in regards to our goals together is really important. That means I'll check in with you, and encourage you to be direct and honest with me regarding goals and any changes you might want to make. I really value directness, and recognize the therapeutic relationship is the vehicle for therapy being helpful or feeling like a letdown. I believe therapy works, so even if we start working together and we decide we're not a good fit, I'll do all I can to help you find your best fit. I love being a low-pressure person for clients to practice being honest and direct with about how things are actually going for them. Practicing with me tends to mean that you're feeling more capable of asking for what you need outside of therapy, too, which is a win in my book.
Okay, so you've done it- you made the call, did the search, and booked the first therapy appointment! Taking the first step is typically the hardest, but then you actually have to go to the first therapy appointment. You might have a lot of things you want to share, or you might not quite know how or where to start. That's okay. We'll figure it out together. When we first meet, I'll spend some time getting to know you and what led to scheduling the first appointment. You can share as much as you'd like or as little as you'd like. If you've never been to therapy before, or are trying out therapy for the 5th time, it doesn't matter to me, I'll explain how therapy with me will work. I'll spend some time getting to know you (and your partner or family if they're attending with you). We'll see if we're a good fit for working together and if we decide we'd like to team up, we'll make our first goal by the end of the first session. We won't solve everything, but we'll get a good idea of where to start and the goals that feel most important to you to start feeling better quickly.
