Services
About My Clients
Some people come to therapy with a specific problem they want to address, while others simply know that something in their life needs to change. At Community Practice we welcome people from all walks of life. Counseling works best when we identify what matters to you and build practical steps toward the life you want.
My Background and Approach
In general it is good to try a variety of interventions. A typical treatment plan might include: CBT thought clock, 3 generation family tree, list of personal goals and daily steps to achieve them, Virginia Satir's coping stances and Iceberg, 12 steps of AA, identifying negative thought patterns worksheet, Meyers-Briggs personality assessment, lifestyle checklist for health or finances, recommendations to see additional providers such as a doctor or physical therapist, guided communication exercises for couples (these are really fun), breathing techniques, plans to improve social life, artistic expression or art therapy, time study to help with procrastination, Columbia suicide assessment, MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), Motivational Interviewing, Breathing and grounding techniques, coping skills aka "hobbies" list, Gratitude list or their flip side Resentments list, Narrative therapy.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
Good counseling relies on the three foundations of mental health treatment. 1. Establishing Trust - Another way to say establishing trust is answering the questions "can i work with this person?" "is there somewhere for the relationship to go." 2. Providing high level empathy - high level empathy is the ability to feel what another person feels then communicate it back to that person. Sometimes this is described as feeling like a piece of a puzzle has been found. 3. Employing evidence based therapeutic interventions - this is the fun stuff. This is the part of treatment that people often find most enjoyable. These are techniques that have been researched and well founded in science for their ability to cause people to heal and mend from complex mental, emotional and behavioral illnesses. Other interventions can be more dynamic such as doing role play with a family where the family members switch roles and act out scenes to help foster communication and understanding.