Perspective
The information below offers you insights into how I support my clients’ goals and aspirations. I view our work together as a collaborative process. The following are the theoretical foundations of my approach:
Person-in-context, Solution-focused, and Trauma-informed.
Shared Responsibility for Problem-Solving
Person-in-Context. When working with clients, I value the whole person, in the context of their environment. I utilize a Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual (BPSS) perspective; which means I will explore each realm of a person’s being...the physical, emotional, social-relational, and spiritual. When I consider the problem(s) clients share with me, I also attend to the larger context in which my clients exist. We don’t live in a vacuum, but unfortunately, I often witness the extremes of self-blame (by clients) and limited accountability (by those they love), rather than a shared responsibility for problem-solving. I do not view problems unidirectionally (e.g., A causes B), but rather systemically...developing in a fluid or interactive manner (∞) where the combined interaction of A and B creates C.
Attachment. Our key attachment experiences can inform how we connect with and respond to the needs of others, as well as our own. Change requires one’s intention to break relational patterns and heal the consequences of the past. There’s a point in life where the survival responses we were required to utilize no longer serve us, or our relationships. So, although the past can impact us deeply, there comes a time when identifying new ways to respond to triggers, serves as an opportunity for connection and belonging, even when it’s scary, challenging, and unfamiliar.
Family-of-Origin. I always consider how one’s early life experiences and key relationships influence how they are living in the current moment. I strive to support my client’s ability to be in the present moment, fully, with the goal of thriving. Just because the people who were meant to keep you safe may have failed you, it doesn’t mean that will continue to be your experience. I want to help you break intergenerational patterns, leaving the next generation better off than the one before you.
Solution-Focused
Solution-Focused. Problems happen!! And, I have often told my children, ‘MOST problems are solvable’. This mindset offers hope and establishes an intention for seeking solutions, rather than being paralyzed by one’s situation. When I consider the ways in which my clients are experiencing distress, I prefer to help them ‘zoom out’ with curiosity and look at the problem from multiple angles, to identify possible solutions. Of course, this is easier said than done; which is why having a trained professional on your side can be so valuable. And, when solutions to unchangeable circumstances exist (e.g., illness, disability, death), my role is to be present with clients – in their reality -- by honoring their pain in ways that other people in their life are unable to provide.
Trauma-Informed
Trauma-Informed. I also support clients with developing essential skills for managing the impact of life-changing experiences by considering the body’s 5 senses (i.e., sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste) as clues for identifying what they are needing, moment by moment. Re-experiencing, avoidance, and arousal are clues to unresolved trauma. As I facilitate body awareness and strategies for regulation, clients can become empowered in responding to and diminishing triggers.