Psychotherapy
My practice specializes in helping adults who are struggling with past trauma, health issues, chronic illness and chronic pain. If you are feeling lost and struggling with some of these worries, I'm confident that I have the experience to help you rediscover what brings happiness to your life. Through therapy, there are ways to address the issues you face and learn coping strategies to help you both right now and in the future.
Through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), we can get you on track to leading a happier, more fulfilling life by equipping you with the tools you need to more efficiently and confidently manage life's challenges. By helping you to use mindfulness and other grounding techniques in addition to the above modalities, we can work together in managing your emotional pain, which often exacerbates physical pain, also. Often this is foundation onto which we can work through some past traumas or current pain.
What is CBT and DBT? Both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy are invaluable for teaching different ways to think and to challenge cognitive distortions that could be clouding the way in which you view a situation. By learning new coping skills to change your thoughts and behaviors, you can react differently to people in your life and create new boundaries for yourself. I will support you in prioritizing yourself and your self-care, which is the backbone of managing both your physical and mental health.
EMDR therapy can help with complex past traumas, like having had a difficult childhood. It can help also with specific traumas, like car accidents. I use EMDR to help clients with chronic pain and health issues, which are often tied to other things like past events (especially if the pain was caused by a specific incident) or emotional stress (stress often exacerbates physical pain). EMDR can help clients manage physical pain better, as well. Research studies show that clients have been able to reduce their actual physical pain significantly through the use of EMDR.
EMDR aids in reprocessing past negative memories that are still evoking a high emotional intensity. Much like we process our daily events through our dreams at night, EMDR is a clinical way for formally processing traumatic memories that got “stuck” in your brain. When we feel like we are “back there, then” when we think about a particular painful event, this is a good example of how the “stuck” piece feels in our brain. EMDR can reprocess those memories in our sessions together, so that when you think of those memories, they don’t elicit the same emotional intensity they once did.
In my years specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy and EMDR, I have helped people with a wide range of obstacles to overcome. I am passionately committed to helping my clients realize their full individual potential, and I will tailor our sessions to your unique needs. Together we can help you find your “new normal” in dealing with your life’s situations. Call or email me today to get started feeling better!
What to expect in Individual Psychotherapy:
- Empathy, caring and compassion for you and the situation that brings you into therapy
- Supportive and safe space to discuss any issue
- Knowledge from 25+ years’ training and clinical experience in the therapy field
- Assessments and treatment planning that is transparent and collaborative
- Working with you to develop a specialized treatment plan that works with your needs
- Commitment, dedication, and open communication
- Flexibility to work with your individual needs and schedule
- Sensitivity towards clients’ needs (i.e. wheelchair accessible, comfortable furniture, HEPA and UV air filtration, sensitive lighting as needed, etc.)
- Telehealth offered (My license only allows for me to do this if you are currently in California.)