LISW-S

Counselor/Therapist

Hello there! I’m a therapist who has helped a variety of people and families within the past 24 years of my clinical social work practice. As a helping professional I work mostly with adults, couples, older teens, and families.

I began my career working in child welfare, working in foster care and children’s residential treatment centers. After obtaining my BSW from Michigan State University I began working in addiction and domestic violence treatment, conducting assessments and working as a case manager. I completed my MSW from Michigan State University with a focus in Clinical Social Work practice. I continued as a therapist utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) for adults struggling with both mental health and addiction related issues. Around this time, I began working with students as a field instructor, teaching counseling technique and as a clinical director supervising other therapists and social workers.



Over the following years I participated in a learning collaborative with between the University of Tennessee and Duke where I learned to apply the fundamentals of Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF/CBT), as a means of using narrative work and CBT essentials to help people cope with trauma. My most recent experience has been in working as a private practice therapist and consulting as a Licensed Independent Social Work Supervisor (LISW-S) with healthcare professionals who work in end-of-life care. I have experience in providing support to those caring for the terminally ill as well as providing education, training, and guidance for healthcare professionals and students.

I would describe my therapy practice style as CBT oriented, as my approach focuses on identifying unhelpful ways we think, learning new ways of solving problems using cognitive coping skills effectively, and helping people learn to recognize the connections between our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Some of my areas of my therapy practice include the following:

·     Anxiety

·      Depression/Bipolar disorder

·      Panic Disorder

·      Relationship & family distress

·      Addiction/Substance misuse

·      Abandonment issues

·      Self-esteem/Self-concept problems

·      School related issues

·      Chronic illness issues

·      Burnout/Compassion Fatigue

·      Elder/Aging Adult issues

·      Grief & loss

·      LGBTQ issues

·      Coping skill and resiliency development

·      Trauma/PTSD/Complicated PTSD

·      Self-injury

I believe that at times everyone can use a new perspective on their life and sometimes we need help overcoming a serious problem. Therapy can be a way to become more skillful in coping with existing or new problems in our lives. If you are in a situation where you either don’t know how to use your skills at solving a problem your facing or just have no idea on where to start, please consider setting up an appointment with me for assistance.