Choosing the right counselor is important and taking the first step toward healing and growth can be anxiety-inducing all on its own. As your Licensed Professional Counselor, I can offer this promise: I will listen with empathy and compassion, explain the whys and hows of various therapy interventions, and empower you with meaningful tools at every step of your journey toward stronger emotional health.
Most therapists pursue counseling because of their gifts, but also because of their experiences. Mine have taught me what works and what doesn’t. I’ve personally experienced anxiety, grief, divorce, and infertility and so I have a heart for helping others with these challenges. I’ve watched loved ones endure trauma and PTSD. As such, I have pursued specialized training to treat these conditions. I’ve studied Internal Family Systems (IFS) since 2020, and I’m an experienced EMDR counselor; both therapies work well for trauma and other mental health issues.
I’ve received the therapies myself to understand how it feels for my clients and to confirm their effectiveness in resolving my own issues. Counselors and ministers who counsel others need to care for themselves so they can care for others (similar to parents needing to take care of themselves and their marriage, and place the airline oxygen mask on themselves first before putting it on their children).
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps people learn how their perceptions, beliefs, and thought processes influence how they respond to specific situations. CBT works to dismantle a patient’s negative belief systems and focus on solutions. By adjusting distorted thinking patterns and assumptions, it’s easier to see the possibility for solutions and break cycles of destructive behavior.
During the night we process and reconcile the previous day’s events during the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep.
Some memories, however, go unreconciled. Upsetting, traumatic, or confusing memories remain stuck in our psyches, continually haunting and harming us with negative messages about ourselves or an event.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) uses the brain to reconcile the memory. Using eye movements similar to REM sleep, we can lower the disturbance level of a particular memory—from 10 (the most disturbing) to 0 (no disturbance). The therapy focuses on replacing the negative image and representative belief with positive ones.
EMDR is one of the most exciting and promising therapies for treating post-traumatic stress, but it has also proven successful in helping patients with:
View Video: Introduction to EMDR Therapy
(video courtesy of EMDR International Association)
Psychology Today’s description of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) aligns well with how I work with patients. It specifically focuses on four key areas, which we will address using a therapy workbook to improve “skills to manage painful emotions and decrease conflict in relationships.”
When working with children and adolescents, I utilize play therapy geared toward the level of the child. Generally, I use self-directed play therapy, where the child or adolescent chooses what and how to play. According to The Handbook of Play Therapy, “Play is a child’s natural way of establishing relationships, communicating, and solving problems.”
I use play therapy to help children explore how certain life events may be impacting their emotions, conduct, learning, and more. My approach is non-intrusive, sensitive, and compassionate.
The Internal Family Systems (IFS) model of therapy assumes that human minds are naturally divided into parts and subpersonalities. Everyone has a leading internal Self, but also a complex system of valuable emotional parts that interact with and influence one another and the Self. The goal of therapy is to elevate the core Self as a secure and confident leader, to nurture harmony among subpersonalities and parts, and bring forth the best intentions and talents of all parts.
Below are some key points of the IFS model.
Parts & Self
Subpersonalities (Parts)
EXILES
MANAGERS
FIREFIGHTERS
View Video: What is Internal Family Systems? (Richard Schwartz, Ph.D, founding developer of IFS)
Video courtesy of IFS Institute.