The following philosophies describe my commitment to helping children, adolescents, adults, and families recover from the pain, stress, and dysfunction in their present lives. I help my clients develop skills, learning strategies, and positive productive coping mechanisms.
- Therapy is goal-oriented, humanistic, and respectful.
- I believe in listening carefully to my clients, helping them to identify problems, and developing a personal plan of recovery.
- Clients are helped to recognize and develop their positive skills, while understanding and letting go of negative behavior patterns.
- Clients deserve respectful treatment from their therapist and others in their lives.
- Therapists deserve respectful behavior and language from their clients.
- Clients know when they are ready to make changes. A therapist's job is to support an individual's personal growth through respect, encouragement, and professional skill.
- When the exploration of family-of-origin issues is a primary goal, it is often very helpful to invite family members into therapy. If this is not possible, appropriate, or dangerous, there are a variety of techniques to assist clients in facing their family issues.
- It is not unusual for people to experience a variety of feelings as well as changes in actions and behaviors when in therapy. As a person talks about painful issues either in the past, present, or into the future, feelings of sadness, grief, depression, anxiety, joy, relief, happiness etc…are all common and normal reactions. I ask my clients to be as patient with themselves as I will be; as they walk through the process of therapy and reclaiming their lives.
- I observe my clients carefully to evaluate if another professional should be part of their recovery plan. Appropriate referrals will be made if, for instance, a medical doctor or a program in the community would be helpful. I may also request medical or mental health records if it is deemed necessary in order to provide the best treatment possible. If I believe that you are in a crisis or a dangerous situation, it may be in your best interests for me to contact a doctor, hospital or with your permission a nearest relative. Please see the new guidelines for privacy practices at the end of this informed consent.
- I encourage my clients to talk freely with me about any concerns or questions they may have about our therapy work or myself. If we cannot resolve a serious complaint, then clients are able to contact the Board of Psychology at 617-2230.
- When I work in the role of a Parenting Consultant or a Custody Evaluator, my client is always the child.