As a social worker for over 25 years, I have assisted clients in identifying goals and adapting skills based on their strengths, helping them move forward in their growth. Using compassionate, strength and solution focused methods along with humor, grace and persistence I motivate clients in learning skills to decrease their struggle and increase their ability to thrive in any situation they find themselves.
I am often reminded by others that compassion and grace are a big part of my practice. I utilized a mix of approaches along with humor, willingness to think outside the box, and embracing mindfulness in guiding clients towards their goals. I engage with clients through questions, periods of quiet and practicing skills together in an effort to support their success. I work best when the client is motivated to make changes, though do understand that it may take a few sessions. I often tell clients that if I poke an issue, they don't want to address it in the moment I will let it go for a bit and then return to poke again gently to encourage the client in meeting that particular issue and create work around decreasing its impact. Compassion is key in doing this work, change is hard, challenges can be overwhelming, persistence along with grace guide people towards their inner strength.
You may have many challenges competing for attention and first sessions are about identifying the one challenge with the most impact on your life in the moment. Starting with brainstorming to identify the challenge requiring immediate attention and creating achievable steps providing you with a starting point towards feeling strong and skillful in meeting your challenges.
