"The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change."
-Carl Rogers
As a Person-centered and trauma-informed therapist, I approach every client with empathy and understanding and view myself as a guide to understand you, your unique experiences, and help to you find a path towards clarity and wellbeing. I have experience working with pre-teens, adolescents, young adults, and older adults. I provide therapy for women, men, and those within the LGBTQIA+ community. I take a culturally-sensitive approach and never assume our life experiences are the same. When there is anything I do not understand, I make sure to ask my clients because I understand how our life experiences and cultures can shape our values, world-view, and upbringings. I strongly believe every client comes to a session with life experiences I have not had and that you are your own expert.
The clients I work with are often people who are searching for a deeper understanding of themselves, their relationships, and to process challenges ranging from overwhelming anxiety, navigating the complicated feelings of grief and loss, body-image and self-esteem issues, self-harm and suicidality, and new or deeply-rooted traumas. I use a combination of education, mindfulness-based approaches, parts-work, and somatic (body-based) techniques to arm clients with the knowledge of why they may feel or act the way they do and the tools to help them feel better and more in control.
Professional Development
Academic training
I graduated from Flagler College in St. Augustine with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology. I completed a Master's of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville in 2016 and have been working in the mental health field for the last 14 years.
Training and specialties
I am licensed in the state of Florida and Colorado as a licensed mental health counselor and licensed professional counselor. I have also earned Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) Certification and have completed trainings to provide Internal Family Systems Therapy.
Clinical experience
I have had the pleasure of working with many clients from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I have worked with under-privileged populations in substance abuse treatment, those with serious mental health diagnoses in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and with children ages 9 and up, to young and older adults. I also have experience working with the LGBTQIA+ community in both individual and couples counseling.
Therapy Approaches
Mindfulness and Somatic-based
In addition to talk therapy to work through our feelings, mindfulness (essentially, "awareness without judgement") and body-based practices such as yoga, meditation, and deep breathing are clinically proven to improve the way our body manages and processes stress.
Internal Family Systems
The main concept of IFS, an evidenced-based approach, is that we are all made up of a "system" of parts and our higher self. IFS is deep work that allows us to connect with, understand, and accept our parts (and therefore, ourselves) to build more empathy and compassion which leads to healing.
Cognitive Behavioral and Psychoeducation
CBT, including trauma-focused CBT, and psychoeducation can help clients better understand their thoughts and feelings which can then contribute to problematic behaviors. Arming clients with tools to better cope allows them to work towards improving awareness of themselves and relationships, have better communication with others, and reduce distressing symptoms.
Grief Therapy
Grief is an incredibly complex phenomenon we will all experience one way or another. People can experience grief very differently and none of us go through "stages" in a nice, neat way. Grief therapy revolves around first understanding grief and its complexities, normalizing our reactions to loss, and moving "through" the tragedy of loss rather than moving on.
Let's Talk
The first step of therapy is finding someone that you can connect with. I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation to answer questions and to give you an opportunity to see if we could be a good fit.