How I Work

All my sessions are conducted via HIPAA Compliant Telehealth.

I am licensed in Washington State. I am able to work with clients who are residents of Washington State.

One of the first things you should know about me is I do not do talk therapy!

Why? I did this kind of work for a number of years and found people came to great insight but could not change their reactions or behaviors from insight. So, I began to ask what else could help people make change. I discovered the content of the stories they told just rebooted pain and suffering while in the office, and people would leave with no change.

We each have an innate wisdom within us, and I love supporting people in realigning with and following their Authentic Self. Physical, emotional, and psychological symptoms are telling us we are living in a way other than from who we really are. People often give up their connection with their truth, their innate wisdom when they experience emotional abandonment or neglect, or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, as a way to handle what they are experiencing. As children we form points of view of what is true based on family, culture, society, media, peer groups, professions, etc., to fit in. We give up truth for ourselves and take on the programming. The innate wisdom within us knows these choices, programs, points of view are not true for us, and signals us and everyone around us, ie: acting out, anxiety, depression, and physical issues.

My targets when I work with people are to assess their ability to be self-aware, to teach self-awareness tools if required, and put tools into the hands of my clients so they can make change for themselves, both during treatment and after. I create experiential activities in session so you can study how to tell what is true for you. I will be consistently referring you back to noticing the difference between programming and points of view you are operating from that are not you, and Truth for You.

What I ask of you

If you come to psychotherapy, please be ready to change, challenge your old beliefs and patterns, and replace them with new, more life-affirming ones. Being in practice since 1977 in the mental health field, I have discovered those who have been successful in making changes have had certain characteristics:

* Be willing to learn about yourself.

* Be willing to let go of beliefs that limit you.

* Attended therapy consistently.

* Practice tools you learn in session in your daily life.

* Make yourself a priority so change can take place.

* Stay focused on your treatment and achieved your targets.

* Take charge of choosing differently for yourself even if everyone around you has a different perspective.

First & Second Session

The first time you come in we will get to know each other. I will share with you how I work, what my office policies are. We will complete the required intake forms required by the state of Washington. You are welcome to download them, fill them out and sign them prior to your first session, to save time in your first session. We will then go over the Intake form you will fill out to begin to identify what brings you to therapy, what experiences you have had in therapy before. We will then create a Master treatment plan and begin the assessment in Phase 2 of EMDR.

There are three major parts to the therapeutic process.

The First Part of Treatment (Phases 1 & 2 of EMDR Therapy): The beginning phase of treatment will be about assessing what tools, resources, and capacities you already have. I use experiential activities for us both to learn what you have. From here we will choose what modalities will be most effective. I will be teaching you tools you can use on your own, in between sessions, that will accelerate your treatment, and will build resources if required.

If you have difficulty with managing overwhelm or emotions, we will take time to help you develop tools for doing so. These are skills we are supposed to develop in early childhood. They provide a foundation for the rest of our lives. These skills give you the resources to make choices and follow through with action with a sense of confidence, knowing what is right for you. Think of it this way. If you build a house, the first thing you build is a foundation. If there is no foundation or it is built inadequately, at some point the house (your life) will fall off the foundation and crumble. Once you rebuild your foundation you are prepared to rebuild your life in a lasting way.

The Second Part of Treatment (Phases 3-8 of EMDR Therapy): After we have completed assessment and resource building as required, we can move to systematically clearing limitations, belief patterns that limit you, and trauma experiences. There are a variety of options we can use during this phase of treatment. EMDR Therapy reprocessing is my first choice, and in some cases, it is too overwhelming, so I have other options as well. Often, I will use other options until your nervous system gets to the place where EMDR Therapy reprocessing works for you and we switch. See more about EMDR Therapy under Tools That I Use.

The Third Part of Treatment: When you begin to reach the majority of your targets, we can do some planning for you to complete treatment. This will include reviewing your treatment plan to make sure we have resolved all your presenting complaints. People don't often celebrate their achievements and it is an important step. You will always be welcome to come back to address anything new that comes up.