Therapeutic Style: I like to participate and interact in dialogue with you, and not just sit back, ask questions and take notes. My intention is to engage with you to creatively brain storm together and come up with practical solutions that you can apply beginning right after the session. I prefer to walk along with you down a path of change that leads to fulfillment. I expect to work hard so that you get your money’s worth by finding solutions in each session that bring hope and encouragement to begin living life anew. Theoretical Orientation: I subscribe to an humanistic/existential framework. What that means is that I like to treat people like human beings first and not categorize people into diagnostic stereotypes. I also seek to meet and understand each unique individual from their perception of their own life experience as they know it.
I’m also grateful for completing my MSW and having a social work background. It’s important to me to work with individuals respectfully with a caring compassionate way of understanding clients as a whole person, taking into account, ethnic, racial, economic, religious, cultural, gender, sexual orientation, class differences... in addition to the intra-psychic emotional psychological aspects of oneself.
Treatment Methodology: I do not specialize in any one treatment methodology or problem area. I've enjoyed training in a variety of disciplines and approaches. I prefer to assess what a person's individualized concerns and needs are first. As an eclectic, I like to then utilize what specific methods and techniques might work best in consideration of each client’s particular needs. My training and professional career spans from the conventional clinical treatment models as an outpatient therapist in a community mental health center setting, to alternative/progressive therapeutic modalities in private practice utilizing, NLP, EMDR, hypnotherapy, Buddhist, or transpersonal psychological orientations acquired through studies here in the US and abroad.
What that translates to for example is that sometimes I might use a cognitive therapy approach, helping someone to understand and challenge their thinking related to their mood disorder. At other times, I might use a strategic educational approach using humor and metaphorical examples when teaching communication skills exercises with couples counseling. Or, I might utilize a behavioral approach in helping a person to overcome their phobia, stress or bad habits. Even still, I might use Eastern approaches related to mindfullness and opening one's heart, by leading a guided imagery exercise to strengthen one’s self worth and self esteem and provide stress relieve.
Counseling Relationship in Healing: I believe the success of a therapeutic intervention relies on the quality of sharing that occurs during the relationship between client and therapist. Honesty, trust, integrity and a willingness to reveal ourselves are important prerequisites to strive for. The rapport of the therapist provides a safe context to then be able to explore and resolve issues and their affective impact on one's inner experience. In this regard, counseling then becomes a creative art form, incorporating mindful attentiveness to one's self as well as the inner self of another. The healing of mind, body and spirit of the person can then merge into a solid foundation towards the betterment of the whole self.
