Counseling Approach

For many reasons, people who’ve experienced difficult childhoods grow up feeling unworthy. As adults, they have much in common, including significant workaholism, people-pleasing, intense self-criticism, debilitating self-sabotage, and extreme self-isolation.

The outside doesn’t match the inside.

On the outside, you’d never know these folks are suffering. They are keen on putting their best foot forward in their work and personal lives. Superstar workers, earners, athletes, and model citizens hide cleanly, being the ‘perfect person’ facade. They even go so far as serving others and profusely earning praise as being selfless.

These outward traits keep others at a distance, robbing them of the chance to feel genuine connection and vulnerability.

When these folks need support or are suffering, they often ignore the inner warning signs and push harder. The result is suffering in silence and fear on the inside rather than asking others for help.

Self-blame reinforces the self-defeating cycle until exhaustion, irritability, and ruined relationships occur.

Increase potential by building on your strengths.

My clients are usually self-aware. They know what the problem is and what they need to do to fix it. Yet, they are stuck and seem entrenched in ineffective coping methods.

In counseling, I work from a strengths-based perspective. That means that we focus on what you are doing well and build upon to help you reach maximum potential.

I work collaboratively with my clients, often more like a coach, consultant, and accountability partner. The approaches I use in therapy include raising awareness through critical reflection, recognizing your potential, deciding on purposeful action, plotting a course, and committing to it.

Some folks also benefit from spending more time in the critical reflection phase, where the processing of unresolved emotions happens.

My job is to help clients overcome challenges.

I always tell clients that I am trying to work myself out of a job. This means I will teach you everything that I am doing so that you can do it without me. It is a joy to hear clients gain clarity and relief.

Most clients experience a significant reduction in their symptoms in 4-5 sessions. I typically see clients once a week and am happy to plan activities or engage in traditional talk therapy.

If you’re a psychology nerd like myself, it can help to know the evidence-based method I use in therapy. My approach blends several schools of thought (liberation, humanistic, reality-based, and emotion-focused psychotherapy styles) with evidence-based treatments to employ compassion-focused, trauma-informed, and multi-culturally oriented treatments.

My mission in life is to support people and organizations as they manage, grow from, and thrive despite their challenges.

Some of the core values that guide my work are focusing on client need(s), promoting health, upholding integrity, and maintaining quality.

I accomplish my life’s mission by offering a space where people find connection, peace, and renewal. I commit to showing genuine compassion, knowledge, and skill while upholding high ethical and professional standards.