Cathy Morrel (She/Her)

I am currently pursuing religious trauma certification and have been researching religious trauma to better inform my practice. I understand the immense loss and grief that comes from deconstructing your faith and the loss of community that often follows. I understand that it can be gut wrenching to learn that so much of what you were taught about the world and yourself isn't true. The betrayal that you feel when you look back and realize how abusive what you were taught truly is.

I have been working with members of the LGBTQ community for over 10 years. I am pursuing a LGBTQ specialist certification, the knowledge that comes from this helps better inform my practice and make sure that the information I am providing is up to date. Some common themes I see with LGBTQ clients is: religious trauma, internalized homophobia, loss of community and family, and experiences of prejudice.

I have worked with adolescents in some capacity since I was still once myself. I started working with the youth group at my former church soon after graduating. It was something that I came to love. I am still in contact with some of those "kids" from my early years as a volunteer. I knew when I started in this field that I wanted to continue that work professionally as well. Some common adolescent issues are finding one's self, planning for the future, depression, and anxiety.

One things that I loved about Solution Focused Therapy is that unyielding belief in the client's desire and ability to change, and change quickly. Tapping into a client's desired outcome and what that looks like and using simple, but not always easy, questions to get there. Often there is a dramatic change between sessions that is exciting to witness. I have completed 21 hours in Solution Focused specific training.

Carl Rogers belief in unconditional positive regard is something that resonated with me in school. I think it pairs well with Solution Focused Therapy to become one of my client's biggest cheerleaders, even if they, themselves, can't see change. Rogers also believed in every person's ability to grow and change. He believed that building a strong therapeutic relationship was key to a successful therapy experience. I try to embody Carl Rogers beliefs about clients and therapy in my own work.