When I was a child, a mental health provider helped me, and that experience led me to want to help people in a similar way. 

Like most people, I work best with clients who want to work! What I mean is clients who are open to doing the work because change is not going to just happen. 

I am energized by working with clients who are invested in the process of counseling. I know that may sound corny, but as long as that sense of investment is there, it makes a big difference regardless of the presenting concern or how the person presents in the room. 

I wish all clients could know that they are worthy. That does not mean we cannot make improvements but rather that we can connect with worth separate from others' views or judgments, what we're producing, or a certain level of success. 

I wanted to expand the types of clients I could work with in counseling, and Thriveworks provided an excellent opportunity.

I am concerned about our challenges as people to listen to one another with empathy, compassion, and genuine curiosity, especially when we have strong differences of opinions, views, values. When we approach one another with respect and genuine curiosity to learn where someone is coming from, we remain connected to the humanness within all of us.

Within the first counseling session, at the beginning I usually orient as needed to what to expect from us working together and how we can work well together. We then discuss goals and begin our journey of talking so that I can help you identify what you can do between sessions to work toward your goals.

I aim to form a solid start to the therapeutic relationship within the first meeting and to start learning more about changes the client wants along with how to help them reach their goal. Helping clients feel heard and understood within a space where they can say whatever they need is crucial. Lasting change takes time, but I hope the client leaves that first session with a stronger sense of direction on what can help than when they entered the meeting.