EXPECTATIONS OF THERAPY
The ultimate goal of a therapy is to graduate from counseling and use skills on your own.
I believe that change occurs through the combination of a collaborative and mutually respectful relationship, as well as through therapeutic intervention. I approach counseling from an integrative model based on the your needs and the nature of your presenting issues. I work with a variety of therapeutic modalities, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Brainspotting, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. For more information on these modalities, see “Services and Fees.”
I work with clients of all ages and backgrounds in multiple formats including individual, groups, and families.
Trauma and therapy can affect all members of a family. For this reason, I strongly encourage clients to bring in their significant other, family members, or closest support person(s) for at least one session to gain a better understanding of what my client’s family system perceives and to give these support members some information and guidance on how best to support my client in their therapeutic process. When you attend a session as a support (or “Collateral”), you are not considered a client or part of the treatment process. I can receive information from you about my client, but cannot respond to you without their express, written consent. Any information a collateral shares with me about my client will be shared with my client.
Counseling is not meant to be an ongoing, lengthy process. Rather, it is ideal for people to attend counseling and gain skills to manage their own challenges, then come back for ‘touch up’ sessions every so often.
Depending on the issues with which you are struggling, counseling can be as brief as 6-8 sessions, or as long as several years for many people with chronic and severe trauma symptoms.
Counseling is like any other endeavor you choose to begin. You will get as much out of it as you put in. My expectation is that you will attend weekly, or every other week until you are able to use skills on your own, then drop in for “tune ups” as needed in the future.