Our counselors provide therapy in Tampa, FL

My approach to individual therapy starts with understanding what my client is experiencing and what has happened to them. Before unpacking the issues, I teach my client skills for managing thoughts and emotional intensity so they do not feel overwhelmed and flooded by their memories. I teach a lot of cognitive behavioral therapy skills and I utilize a lot of psychoeducation regarding behavior and why we do the things we do. I use body-mind therapies to treat trauma, PTSD, phobias, and emotional wounds. I am not a solution-focused therapist in the usual sense of the word, but I strongly encourage clients to become solution-focused in their thinking and choices.

My go-to approach for helping people in individual therapy is starting where they are. I enjoy working with individuals of all ages.

Tools I teach in individual therapy include:

• Coping/soothing skills: Includes breathing, muscle relaxation, music, movement, guided imagery, hypnosis (when requested), aromatherapy, and self-care.
• Thought management skills: Skills to identify, challenge, and reconstruct inaccurate thoughts.
• Emotional regulation skills: Managing emotional intensity through mental and physiological methods and mindfulness.
• Stress management skills: Managing mental, emotional, and physiological reactions.
• Self-care skills: Creating a self-care plan to enhance health in 5 major domains — physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social.
• Interpersonal skills: Skills to recognize toxic dysfunctional behavior patterns and how to break free from them, boundaries, assertive communication skills, and skills for uncomfortable conversations.
• Mind-body skills: Includes vagus nerve reset exercises, body movement, and sensory-focused skills such as identifying emotional strongholds in the body.
• Trauma work: Includes talk therapy, rapid resolution therapy, accelerated resolution therapy (a form of EMDR), and rescripting (involves identifying unmet needs and rewriting the outcome).

I use and teach a lot of coping skills.

I know a client is making meaningful progress when they have the energy and focus to engage in other activities. Many times I see their facial expressions begin to soften and they are noticing details previously overshadowed by the problem.

I know that a client is making meaningful progress when small changes are being made in their lives.

Clients can enhance therapeutic progress between appointments by practicing the skills learned in sessions and reflecting on alternatives to their current perspective of the problems/issues being addressed in counseling. Self-help books can be a beneficial adjunct but are not a substitute for actual between-session practicing. It is the actual application of knowledge and skills that brings about change. It is also helpful to think about what to work on in session. As a therapist, I ask my clients what they want to work on or discuss. If they have no input, I have a skill ready for them to learn.

Clients can supplement their time outside of therapy by journaling and doing mindful meditation.

To make the most of your first session, please complete all requested paperwork and assessments in your portal. While we do not diagnose from assessments alone, your responses may clarify and provide additional information to help formulate your diagnosis and treatment plan. Be able to provide information about your other healthcare providers and the medications you have been prescribed. Many clients do not realize this information is important for the counselor to know. While therapists try to be on time for each appointment, especially with new clients, please be aware that a session previous to yours may run a few minutes over due to an urgent need. It never hurts to extend to others the same courtesy you might want in similar circumstances.

To prepare for your first therapy session, make a list of some of the top issues you would like to see change in your life.