Services
About My Clients
Are you feeling a bit anxious about therapy? Maybe you've had negative experiences with past therapists and aren't quite certain that you're ready to give therapy another try. I get it, trust me. I frequently hear from clients about past therapists they have had, who "didn't really teach [them] how to fix anything" and "just listened." While it is vitally important that you feel heard by your therapist, they should be giving you some actual tools and strategies to help improve your situation.
My Background and Approach
As an eclectic therapist, I have worked with a variety of problems, ranging from depression and anxiety to substance use, thoughts of suicide and relationship problems. I tailor my approach to each individual client but have postgraduate training in cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety, the Gottman Method for couples therapy, and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy from the Albert Ellis Institute, etc. These are all evidence-based approaches, meaning that there is scientific evidence of their effectiveness. I think one of the difficulties clients regularly experience is that they do not know how to communicate boundaries and expectations confidently to others in their lives and consequently end up "people-pleasing." Together, we will get at the very heart of why you may be doing this and experiment with healthier alternatives, so you do not continue putting your own needs last and feeling miserable as a result. Often, my clients report feeling better rather quickly.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
Having grown up in a small town in Texas, I know firsthand how difficult it was to come out as gay--especially to family and friends, who at the time did not understand. During my graduate training I provided counseling services at an LGBTQ community center in Dallas, Texas and have since worked with LGBTQ clients in a variety of other clinical settings. Having been raised in Christianity, I later learned that I could embrace spirituality without embracing all of the emotional baggage it sometimes carries with it. I now consider myself spiritual but not religious; I don't believe these are necessarily the same. I make it a point to respect the beliefs of others--regardless of what they may be. We are all part of the same whole. Additionally, I am a lifelong stutterer. Although I used to feel insecure about this part of myself, I now embrace it and view it as a personal challenge, which has ultimately strengthened me as I've learned to accept it without judging it as "good" or "bad."