WHAT COUNSELING LOOKS LIKE...

My job as a counselor is to form a partnership with the client and work together to find the best suited path toward health and healing.

I believe that counseling is just one part of your life’s journey, and almost every person can benefit from the therapeutic process.  My role is really to be a passenger along your journey. That takes many different forms as we get started. I may point out obstacles, dangerous patters/ beliefs, bring awareness or education around certain things, help you to shed extra baggage being carried around through clearing of past traumas, and various other things.  Ultimately, my hope is that my clients begin to travel forward feeling freer, lighter, and more at peace.

As I have worked with clients, I have seen this happen time and time again.  It is a joy for me to be able to share in the journey.

CHRISTIAN COUNSELING

My Christian faith has been an instrumental piece of my own journey to healing and meaning making of the things that have happened throughout my life. Please note that ethically speaking, I meet the client where they are at, and treat what is presented. If your belief system does not align with mine, I am glad to still do work with you. I believe in treating the whole person--emotional, spiritual, and physical. I truly believe that you cannot treat only one facet of a person without treating all of them--it's all interconnected. It is important for me that you know that my worldview and perspectives are strongly influenced by Christianity, but only bring that into sessions if the client is comfortable integrating faith into their sessions.  

MODALITIES USED IN THERAPY

I use a variety of therapeutic interventions, and seek to implement a plan that will best and most efficiently bring my client to health and wellness.  As I partner with my clients, we will set goals and prioritize to begin that journey.

LIFESPAN INTEGRATION

Lifespan Integration (LI) is a gentle, mind-body therapeutic method originally designed to work with adult survivors of childhood abuse or neglect.  Over time, however, the developer of LI , Peggy Pace, has found it to be effective for many issues.  By using imagination and a timeline of ones’ life, we can essentially rewire how your body responds to present day triggers. 
      For example, when your stomach turns because your boss talks to you in a particular tone, it is likely
      that it isn’t your boss that is really bothering you.  LI believes that it is probably a part of you that first
      experienced ridicule or condemnation from a person in authority (i.e. a critical parent, a shaming
      teacher, etc.) and that it is that/ those memories that are causing you to be upset today.  Using LI’s
      tools, however, we can prove to your body and your younger self state that you are indeed grown,
      have survived, and that it is no longer happening. 
With that healing, a whole set of new choices is opened up to the client.  My clients have reported feeling “free”, like a “new person”, and their daily lives are no longer plagued by the distress of traumas they experienced in their past.

Click HERE to learn more about Lifespan Integration.

COGNITIVE THERAPIES

Cognitive counseling techniques center around shifting the clients maladaptive thinking.  Maladaptive thinking can negatively impact ones’ feelings and behaviors.  In therapy, I will work to help my clients to challenge these negative cognitions, rehearse new, rational thoughts, and learn some healthy coping skills for moving forward. 

HEALTHY COPING SKILLS & RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

In my work with people struggling with addiction, it became clear that we all have certain default setting programmed into us when it comes to stress.  For some its drugs or alcohol; for others its vegging out in from of the TV, shopping, eating, and so on...  We automatically go to these things to comfort us, ease our stress, distract us, etc.  It is my goals to help each one of my clients identify ways to find peace, without jeopardizing their ongoing health and well-being.  We will develop and practice new things that can bring life and joy, rather than shame and guilt.

Again, each client’s goals will dictate which modalities are best suited for them.  Other therapeutic techniques will be integrated when applicable.

CLIENTELE

I have training and experience working with a myriad of demographics but at this time, I work specifically with adult women and enjoy walking alongside my clients as a mentor, teacher and advocate. If the description below describes you, I believe I could be an excellent fit for your counseling needs.

1. Adult women struggling with relationship challenges/ survivors of childhood trauma or domestic abuse, exhibiting through depression and anxiety. 
2. Adult women looking for assistance in how nutrition can help with mental health. 
3. Adult women in ministry or missions who are feeling burnt out, overlooked/ frustrated, or seeking new directions.  

The following sympotms are how struggles in the above result in problematic patterns in daily life and relationships:

  • Depression,

  • Anxiety,

  • Negative thoughts/ beliefs about self,

  • Maladaptive patterns of relating to others,

  • Shame,

  • Grief,

  • Lack of Voice,

  • Lack of Empowerment,

  • Inability to Resolve Conflict/ Conflict Avoidant,

  • Addiction, and

  • Spiritual disconnectedness.

    My hope is that we can help you find joy and meaning in the journey…