I have a love for collaborating with clients and learning their stories. I truly enjoy learning about all people and how they perceive the world, and I feel fortunate to help support the growth of each individual every time a therapeutic relationship is established. While I focus much of my practice through a CBT framework, I include elements of DBT and mindfulness as well.
I find that different experiences with various clients often drive my continued learning and professional development. As themes or issues arise with a client, I lean on my colleagues and experts in the field and read books, listen to podcasts, or attend in-person workshops to help teach me new strategies and/or tools that can be brought back to the client. Each practitioner brings a unique approach and I appreciate the opportunity to tailor different strategies and approaches to my therapeutic relationships.
When beginning a therapeutic relationship, I often ask the client to start from a place that feels comfortable. From there, we may explore patterns of behavior, thinking traps, and negative self-talk that might be impeding the ability to develop and sustain meaningful relationships. I sometimes assign homework activities between sessions to help clients stay focused on their social-emotional growth. I believe in discussing how a client's automatic thoughts impact feelings and behaviors, and whether they are helping to achieve the client's goals. A bit of humor will also likely be incorporated as appropriate!
