"the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own"
Mary Oliver
My Approach
I am often asked what schools of therapy guide the way I work with clients. Below are some of my biggest therapeutic influences, keeping in mind that we will select the approaches that resonate with you.
Client-Directed: My background is in humanist/feminist therapy, which is always client-led and directed. In other words, you tell me what you want to work on and I work on your behalf to get you where you want to go. This involves transparency about what I am doing as your therapist, and using tools from client-directed outcome therapy to see if you are achieving improvement and getting the service you want from me.
Solution-Focused Therapy: Here the focus is on helping you find pragmatic solutions to whatever problems you are facing in your life. Together we will look at what already works for you, as well as what gets in your way of having the life you want. I have complete faith in our individual ability to sort out our lives, as long as we have a competent and caring guide to get us where we want to go. But again, this involves building on the strengths you already have and then buttressing the weak spots.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT): This method does exactly what it says - helps you be mindful about what you’re doing in your life. From this standpoint we can change the things that aren’t working, and figure out what would work better. At the same time, we will spend time identifying how our minds can distort reality, which can contribute to anxiety, depression, challenged decision making, etc. I have been trained in CBT for psychosis, anxiety, depression, OCD, perfectionism, and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).