Welcome. Thank you for taking the time to explore your healing options. Take a deep breath, slowly let out the breath, and praise yourself for taking this time. Here is some information about me to help you make an informed decision about your mental wellness options. My approach is thoughtful and person-centered, allowing individuals to lead the process while providing insight and guidance to connect with the authentic self. Engagement is my fundamental work in the process. I use empathy and a warm sense of humor to help support engagement and healing. When needed, I will therapeutically challenge people to help with the change process to work towards your goals. I incorporate practices that can include cognitive-behavioral to help explore and change unhealthy ways of thinking, solution-focused to support a short-term and goal-focused approach to construct and work towards solutions, motivational interviewing to have a collaborative and goal-oriented style to strengthen personal motivation and commitment, dialectical-behavioral approaches to help accept realities in life and learn ways to adapt and change, narrative approaches to help to separate the challenges from you as a person and rewrite your life story, and mindfulness approaches of such thought leaders as John Kabat-Zinn and Thich Nhat Hanh.
I have a Masters degree in Social Work from the University at Buffalo with over 20 years of various experience including therapy to work towards mental wellness with people in public clinics and schools; and in-home support for parenting, case management, housing, and other needs. My areas of strength include working with children and adults with finding pathways of healing through anxiety, depression, and various trauma (including sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, and other trauma related to finances, housing, and other needs). If you are struggling in any of these areas or have experienced any of these, I would love to partner with you to support you on your journey towards mental and physical wellness.
About me: I enjoy spending time with my wife and three children including local and out-of-state travel, hiking, exercising, playing various instruments, and attending in-person and virtual training to gain more knowledge and experience to support individual and family needs. I also work part-time for a local human service agency providing clinical support, case management, and advocacy to families.
Thank you for your time and may you find a pathway to peace and joy.