About My Clients
People can experience major frustration in finding interventions that are individualized to people’s unique needs: going through years of therapy and not feeling any better; getting conflicting feedback from other clinicians; having several diagnoses that don’t seem to align with what you’re going through; treatments that don’t seem to get you to your goals. My clients are those seeking a client-centered approach to assessment. I specialize in neurodiversity- esp. late diagnosis for autism.
My Background and Approach
I'm a licensed clinical psychologist trained in comprehensive evaluations. My approach is to gather data from a variety of sources- client history, standardized measures, collateral sources- in order to capture the whole picture of what a client is going through. A diagnosis alone is insufficient- we go into how symptoms and traits develop and what interventions and accommodations will be most useful to move forward.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I personally take a neurodiversity affirming paradigm- in that there is a natural variance in how human brains develop and interact with the world. Sometimes a diagnosis like autism is necessary for access to services and accommodation, but in and of itself is not pathology. An individual's struggles are a representation of their context. I am also LGBTQA+ affirming and part of the LGBTQ* Affirmative Psychotherapist Guild of Utah. I, along with clinicians at our organization, are actively anti-racist. I believe that much of the impairment from mental health issues stem from chronic traumatic invalidation of identity and systematic oppression. In addition to supporting our individual clients, it is our job to advocate in the community and in our mental health system to increase access to care and decrease traumatic medical experiences for marginalized populations.