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Specialties
My services and experience include specialized training in Mindfulness Based approaches and Cognitive Behavioral therapy. As well as, extensive experience in treating Depression, Mood Disorders, and Anxiety related disorders.
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My perspective isn’t that of the “expert” though I do have many years of experience. It is one of a trained confident professional who partners with you and guides you in the direction you are wanting to go. I offer insight and wisdom as needed but ultimately it is your process and I’m supporting you in that process.
Depression & Mood Disorders
Do you feel sad and overwhelmed? Is everything a struggle, even things you used to love doing? Are you sleeping a ton or can't sleep? Any unexplained weight gain or weight loss?
If you answered yes to several of those questions, you might be experiencing Clinical Depression. Research for treating Depression supports Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Mindfulness can be extremely helpful in treating Depression.
Many people struggling with Depression are focused on the past. They have those "things" they cannot get past no matter how hard they try. These "things" from the past haunt them, and all of their future life experiences are filtered through the past.
I use CBT techniques to teach you how to be mindful of the automatic negative thoughts that add to your Depression. Additionally, I help you discover the negative filters used causing you to have a depressed outlook on circumstances.
I use Mindfulness skills to help you become aware of those patterns, filters, and behaviors. Awareness makes space for small shifts over time, causing long-lasting significant improvements in your depressive symptoms.
Holistically, we also look at diet, exercise, daily routines, and self-care practices that support your body and mind in making positive changes. A healthy lifestyle leads to a healthier perspective which leads to a happier, healthier you!
Anxiety
Do you struggle with this constant feeling of impending doom? You do not know where or how, but somehow somewhere, something terrible is coming. Do you have periods of panic? Times where you feel as if you are having a heart attack, you cannot breathe, your heart is racing, palms sweating, you are completely overwhelmed?
If you can relate to any of the above, you are probably suffering from Anxiety or Panic disorder. Anxiety can be debilitating, and you may feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. There is hope! You can find freedom and peace from these symptoms.
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Those struggling with Anxiety are usually quite busy worrying about the future or just about anything. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you become aware of your thinking patterns and perspectives leading to your Anxiety.
We will use Mindfulness skills such as simple awareness, allowing you to be aware of and change thinking patterns as they happen. Additionally, I will help you reconnect to your body and the sensations that let us know our body is stressed. Being in a constant state of Anxiety can stress our nervous system, so you will also learn breathing techniques, meditation (in all forms), and other simple exercises that will help you rest and restore your nervous system. Giving your nervous system a chance to rest and restore can help prevent stress and trauma-related illness from settling in.
I will also use Dialectical Behavioral Skills (DBT) to assist you in building distress tolerance skills which help you better cope with the Anxiety overall.
Holistically, I will help you piece all of this together, coupled with healthy exercise, diet, and lifestyle choices that support and help your process
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Do you struggle with intrusive, unwanted fear or Anxiety provoking thoughts? Do these thoughts cause you so much Anxiety or fear that you have to do things to alleviate or distract yourself from this fear?
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the most commonly misunderstood and not diagnosed disorders. The biggest fallacy with this disorder is that it specifically has to do with orderliness or perfectionism. Though this is true sometimes, it can also look very different than that. It can be any unwanted, persistent thought which causes severe Anxiety or fear. Intrusive thoughts can include many topics. Having to review things or do things until they are "just right." Having thoughts that you could lose control and harm or molest someone or harm yourself. Thoughts that you ran someone over, you poisoned someone without knowing it. You could also be worried, "Is this the right relationship for me," "Could I cheat on my significant other," "But am I really straight/gay."
These unwanted, persistent thoughts can cause you significant stress, Anxiety, and even severe Depression. You also have developed ways to cope with this stress. These are called Compulsions, and they will look different for everyone, but here are some examples:
Avoidance: avoiding the people, places, or situations where the thoughts exist. Example not driving for fear you will obsess over having hit someone. Not dating because you just aren’t sure about your sexuality. Not eating, touching, or engaging in situations because you might get contaminated.
Rituals or Acts: Having to count, check, re-do actions or rituals repeatedly until they are "just right," Having to rearrange, re-read something over and over to be sure it is perfect. Having to drive, but you just aren't sure. Developing systems, rituals, or procedures to ensure that the Obsessive thought does not come true.
Research: You may spend hours researching your obsessive thought to reassure yourself or be sure that it is or is not true.
Reassurance: Spending hours going over scenarios to reassure yourself that the thought couldn't be or is not true. Telling yourself I'm fine; it didn't happen, these thoughts aren't true. Asking others if things are true or if you had or had not done something.
Mental Compulsions: Spending significant amounts of time mentally analyzing or thinking about your obsessions.
If you spend a significant amount of time engaging in the above behavior, you should probably be assessed for OCD.
The most appropriate and research-driven treatment for OCD is Exposure Response Prevention (ERP). ERP helps you face your fears, exposing you to them, reducing the Anxiety around them, and subsequently eliminating the compulsion. It is proven to significantly reduce the Anxiety surrounding the OCD within 3-9 weeks.
ERP is not easy or fun, but it is exceptionally effective in a short amount of time!
Autoimmune Disorders
Do you struggle with autoimmune issues? Unexplained pain, muscle, and joint tightness, lethargy, or managing your stress?
I'm going to preface this by saying I am not a medical doctor! I have not been to medical school, and I'm not claiming that I can heal you of your Autoimmune Disorder!
I'm just a therapist who has had personal struggles with health issues and done extensive research on my path towards healing. I have found significant improvements in my overall health and physical pain through proper nutrition, better managing or eliminating my stress, mindfulness skills, and a general movement towards a healthier lifestyle for my journey.
As a therapist, I can teach you to use mindfulness skills and practices coupled with Cognitive Behavioral and Dialectical Behavioral interventions to help you manage your thinking patterns and behaviors exacerbate autoimmune symptoms. By dealing with the root cause of the stress, you can find a decrease in autoimmune symptoms. We will team up to discover behavior, thinking patterns, and underlying belief systems that increase your stress and keep you from finding your peace. I will then coach you in replacing these things with healthier ways of managing the stuff that life throws at us.
As a meditation instructor, I can teach you meditation skills improve awareness which leads to you catching thinking patterns faster that cause you stress. When we learn through awareness to respond to life instead of reacting to life, we are better equipped to reduce the stress and Anxiety in our world.
As a yoga instructor, I will share the value of nutritious movement with you, helping you release stress, trauma, and pent-up emotions.
Approaching this in a holistic manner means that you should also look at nutritional choices that best fit you; again, I am not a certified nutritionist. I can point you to some medical resources that address nutrition that I have found incredibly helpful. I do not recommend with any of this that you go against your medical professional's advice! I recommend that you discuss options with your doctor and consider incorporating some of these ideas in your treatment. I'm here to help you find what works best for you.
Hypnotherapy
Do you have those habits or thinking patterns you have tried so hard to break but just can't?
Are you struggling with the same things over and over again, but you just can't seem to move past them?
Hypnotherapy can help with these problems!
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