As an undergrad student at Rice University, I took an EMT-Basic training course. As a part of that course, I spent a lot of time interacting with people in crisis in ambulances and in the ER. I noticed a trend in these patients: for everyone with a broken bone, heart attack, or stroke, there was another there because of an overdose, domestic abuse, or suicide attempt. The EMTs and hospital staff were able to help these patients deal with crisis, sometimes saving their lives. I often found myself thinking that their issues went beyond the scope of medical care and would be far from resolved once they left the hospital. That experience helped me transition from treating physical injuries to helping people deal with the psychological needs that are harder to see and often neglected in our society.

I’m most excited to work with clients who are determined to work on whatever problems they come into session with. I’ve found that the most important thing that a client can bring to session is motivation for change. No matter how lost or hopeless someone feels, I’m excited to work alongside them toward something better!

One of the most common things I hear during a first session with a client is some variation of “this might sound weird,” “I don’t know if this is normal,” or “I don’t even know if this is something people go to therapy for.” Sometimes I have to keep myself from laughing in response, remembering client’s I’ve seen earlier that day discussing the same issues! I wish more clients knew that they that they aren’t alone experiencing their problems, that they aren’t the first person to feel that way, and that this is a place where they can get help dealing with them.

Thriveworks offers fantastic support for both clients and clinicians! One thing I’ve despised about working in other settings is having to coordinate billing, dealing with intake paperwork, or jumping through hoops to schedule and reschedule clients. Thriveworks takes care of all of these issues and makes sure that my time with each client can be spent discussing the important issues in their life.

My first session with a client is spent getting to know each other. The most important part of therapy is making sure that a client and clinician can work well together! We spend time talking about where a client is in their life, and what issues and stressors they’re dealing with. Afterwards, we talk about what therapy will look like and set up a rough list of goals and aspirations for our sessions moving forward.

In my time off, I enjoy cooking, playing with my dog, spending time with my friends and family, working thorough an ever-growing backlog of video games and TV shows, and playing Dungeons & Dragons!