I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist . . . fancy titles for someone that loves helping clients find solutions to some of life’s annoyingly complicated issues. I am so excited that you are visiting my website!
I enjoy working with individuals that are experiencing symptoms of depression or other mood issues, anxiety, grief, current/past trauma . . . or just having a difficult time figuring out “why do I feel stuck?” In working with couples who are struggling with feeling disconnected I teach powerful skill building tools using a combination of Gottoman Essentials along with Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy into what I affectionately call Gott-Real Work.
While addiction is not the primary focus of my practice, I rarely meet anyone who hasn’t been touched by the consequences of addiction, including myself. We all seem to have a family history (mom, dad, sibling, aunt, uncle, grandparent) that involves alcohol, drug, food or behavioral (shopping, sex, gambling) addictions, have a friend struggling with it, or are currently engaged in a relationship where it is causing problems.
In order to really help my clients, I chose to work in settings where I could gain a solid understanding of addictions and the devastation they cause to individuals and families from generation to generation. During my work with men and women in homeless shelters and treatment facilities, I realized that many of them were Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families . . . which includes anyone that grew up in a home with an alcoholic, drug addict or a family member with mental health issues, rage issues, narcissism. Living with a parent who has untreated bipolar can be a roller coaster ride! Many of these men and women were victims of childhood trauma that included physical/emotional/mental abuse, sexual molestation, or neglect (because sometimes it is what you don’t get that has negative consequences) . . . no one survives that environment unscathed and growing up in the chaos can create some serious enabling and codependency issues in adulthood.
Recognizing the amount of trauma experienced by my clients led me to become trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. I know it seems cliché that therapists want to talk about your past . . . ever heard the joke, “If it’s not one thing, it’s your mother?” While it isn’t always about our mothers, the negative beliefs we have about ourselves today are directly related to events in our past and plant themselves firmly in our current daily lives, especially as we relate to our partners, children, family, friends and work associates. Today I am using an advanced form of EMDR that includes Somatic Experiencing (body work) called Natural Processing . . . it is an amazing and powerful healing tool.
A little information about me . . . I have been married for 37 years (yes, to the same awesome guy) . . . I have three adult children that have turned out to be amazing grown up people that we love spending time with . . . three darling grandbabies . . . and two cats, Pepper and Miss Spicey (both stinkers). I’d really like to have another cat but I’d have to give up my husband and I’ve decided to keep him.
So, I bring with me a life full of experiences that may not be so different from yours . . . a dysfunctional childhood; marriage challenges and triumphs; the good, the bad and the ugly of raising children; life transitions both fun and difficult (currently uprooting ourselves after 25 years in the same house to move closer to the grandbabies); work, and career changes . . . I look forward to meeting you and getting to know YOU better.