Learning about someone with whom you are potentially seeking help is an important part of the journey. What I do is psychotherapy. It’s a process of talking through what’s happening in life and applying tools and techniques to help make situations feel less overwhelming.
Children are wonderful, and they are our greatest teachers. Research shows a strong link between secure attachment in childhood and increased resilience in the face of adversity – both in childhood and throughout life. A strong relationship with the children entrusted to us is fostered by consistent, responsive caregiving. It provides a foundation of emotional security that enables children to better cope with stress, build positive relationships, and navigate challenging situations with skills such as emotional regulation.
What happens then, when we, as parents, caregivers, or educators, struggle with our own emotional regulation and find the tricky parts of childhood overstimulating, overwhelming, and unmanageable, or even remind us of difficulties throughout our own childhoods?
We will work to Integrate your mind and body by bringing awareness to the surface while engaging with your thoughts, beliefs, inner strengths, and resources. I am actively involved in sessions with curiosity and compassion bringing my experience as a classroom teacher, high school counselor, parent, and therapist into the room. We will incorporate practical tools for regulation which can be applied immediately as a way to foster secure attachment within yourself and with your child(ren)/students.
Background
I began my professional career teaching middle school English where I soon realized I needed more training to meet the needs of my students. As a result, I earned a graduate degree in counseling which led to helping teens as a high school counselor. My world for the last 11 years has been submersed into the early years of childhood through my own parenting journey while also offering professional counseling services as a parent volunteer in our local elementary school and district.
I’m a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Colorado, also known as a psychotherapist. My graduate degrees were both earned at University of Colorado Colorado Springs (Sociology; 2005, Counseling and Human Services; 2009).
What does therapy look like?
Some sessions are entirely spent talking, while other sessions may include movement, art-making, music, and/or other expressive or experiential tools. How we work depends on your needs and what tools would be most useful in the moment.
In most sessions, while there is a story to talk about, we focus on bringing awareness of present sensations and feelings into the session. Through this kind of dynamic engagement, the most overwhelming moments with our children will become more tolerable. We will continue to learn and recognize what is being activated in those tricky moments involving big emotions with our children.
My role can be described as a "compassionate witness" who facilitates self-awareness while supporting the learning of what is happening within oneself. As we continue to learn, you will become continuously more aware and present with your children to strengthen your relationship.
