MY SPECIALTIES
Individual Therapy
I practice primarily with individual counseling using evidence based practices and traditional talk therapy techniques. I have experience working with individuals with wide ranges of complaints as well as experience working with children, adolescents, adults, and geriatric populations. In private practice I see clients that are 12+ years-old. A goal I have for my practice is to help the client facilitate an internal process that allows them to leave therapy feeling better equipped to manage difficult situations and symptoms that may present from day to day. The goal is also develop a sense of independent stability in my clients so that they can trust themselves to have a toolbox to solve problems that the world may throw at them.
Mood Disorders
Struggling with different moods can be debilitating for some individuals, but even experiencing symptoms of mild depression or bipolar disorder can lead to unwanted thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and even physical reactions. I have experience treating mood disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder to name more common mood disorders. This includes acute complaints such as suicidal ideation, self-harm, and other types of crisis. Treating mood disorders is something that can be accomplished through patient persistence through the therapeutic process, and having a therapist for an unbiased perspective to help with achieving goals is a great way to start to experience relief from symptoms.
Addictions Counseling
Anxiety Disorders
I am a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor in the State of Illinois with experience working with all varieties of substance use disorders with different levels of severity. Addictions are difficult to navigate and can potentially be fatal if left untreated. The fact of the matter is that struggling with an addiction without the proper support is incredibly difficult and individuals that have stronger support networks have a higher likelihood of being successful in treatment. As a therapist I like to use sessions to incorporate both talk therapy and evidence-based practices such as motivational interviewing to help facilitate the changes that clients with addictions seek to make in their lives.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based practice the relationship that exists between a situation and the automatic reaction that we have in terms of our thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and physical reactions. It can be difficult to manage symptoms of mental illness on a day to day basis. I like to incorporate CBT as an evidence based practice into my treatment including material that can be discussed in session and, if you desire as a client, can be taken home to work on as well. There are a significant number of studies pointing towards the effectiveness of CBT as a treatment model across many different disorders in many different populations. CBT was originally developed for individuals with severe depression and, once again, has been generalized to other populations. The techniques of CBT aim to change the individual's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors using evidence-based skills.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based practice that was developed to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), trauma, and chronic-suicidality. This practice has also been generalized to other populations like other evidence-based practices like CBT. It teaches skills in mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation. I like to incorporate these skills into therapy when possible with my clients. During standard talk therapy we are able to work on developing different coping mechanisms to better manage symptoms that are undesirable while these different symptoms present moment to moment during the course of treatment.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing is a technique used to facilitate motivation towards change in individuals that are in treatment for mental health disorders. This technique is usually used with individuals that are experiencing different types of addictions, but it has been generalized to other populations in which the client is facing difficulties with motivation towards goal attainment such as individuals with anxiety or depression. The techniques in motivational interviewing work with the client to help facilitate the changes that the individual wants to make in terms of their goals for treating their individual psychiatric disorders.
Anxiety is a common mental health disorder and the symptoms can provide people with unpleasant experiences in day to day functioning. In my career, I have had experience treating mild to severe anxiety disorders using both traditional talk therapy and evidence-based practices. Even though anxiety is something that can be common in populations, it doesn't mean that the symptoms can't be persistent and even become unmanageable without support. Therapy is a great place to start to understand our thoughts and behaviors that occur relative to different situations that go on day to day and their effect on our emotions such as feeling anxious. Of course, a lot of this comes from processing these different experiences that we have moment to moment which I like to provide a safe space in practice for my clients to do.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has been traditionally viewed as a type of anxiety disorder that has recently been reclassified as a compulsive-type disorder according to the DSM-5. I have experience treating obsessive compulsive disorder in different populations using evidence based practices and traditional talk therapy. OCD presents with symptoms of a wide range of obsessions and compulsions that individuals have to manage. These individuals with OCD can sometimes struggle with severely disturbing intrusive thoughts. Having these different occurrences in our day to day activities can make functioning difficult for some and unmanageable for others. While traditional talk therapy is effective for treating different mental health disorders including OCD, there is also a lot of evidence that supports evidence-based practices like CBT and DBT for treatment of OCD.
Crisis and Trauma
Finding ourselves in a crisis is not something that any of us wish to find ourselves in, but the reality of the life is that crisis happens on a day to day basis across the world. I have extensive experience working with individuals that have a large history of trauma and have found themselves in crisis situations. Oftentimes we can have difficulty getting back into the swing of life after crisis and the other reality is that with crisis comes trauma. Trauma is something that has long-lasting affects on the individual's functioning across the life-time if left untreated. Talk therapy can be very effective for both of these types of populations, but I also like to incorporate evidence-based practices that have shown effective in treating both trauma and crisis including DBT.
Codependency
Codependency occurs with excessive reliance on interpersonal relationships, or a partner, with the typical course of the symptomology occurring with individuals who require extra care or support from the codependent individual for an illness, addiction, etc. Codependency can have a lot of negative effects on individuals that experience this. Often times these individuals take on caretaker roles and can put themselves aside while making decisions in life.