Individual Sessions

I work collaboratively with clients to identify areas of concern, contributing factors, and what to do about it. This includes a discussion about the areas in a person’s life that are most important to them and what’s getting in the way of them being satisfied in those areas.  This process includes identifying a person's values and then acting in a way that is consistent with them. When this isn't happening, people suffer. The goal of the helping process is to assist people in living purposeful lives.

I have received training in and primarily use an evidence-based practice called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). The purpose of this model is to increase capacity to have feelings (instead of avoiding them) and improve the ability to observe thinking (instead of being at the effect of it). The ACT model incorporates mindfulness skills to improve a person’s ability to act in ways that are consistent with what’s important to them.

You can learn more about ACT by clicking on this link: http://contextualscience.org/act 

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is another model I use that compliments ACT. CFT is a form of psychotherapy derived from research in developmental psychology, emotional neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and Buddhism. 

For more information about CFT, visit the Compassionate Mind Foundation-USA website at https://compassionatemind.co.uk

For clients hoping to improve their relationships, communication is key. Improving communication can be achieved by learning skills that lead to improved understanding vs "being right." This requires the ability to listen empathetically (putting yourself in the other person’s shoes) and speaking respectfully (calmly, without judgments, from one’s own perspective). This is not easy to do when emotional reactions are triggered by what someone does or says. I use a model called Nonviolent Communication that maintains that difficulties in relationships occur when needs are not met. The goal is to communicate and understand respective needs and increase willingness to meet them in each other. 

You can learn more about Nonviolent Communication by clicking on this link: http://www.cnvc.org/about/what-is-nvc.html