What would be important for someone to know about working with you?
What I strive for in my sessions is to be non-judgmental, collaborative, and validating. I believe that clients are the experts of themselves and I am here to assist you in making positive changes in your life. I adjust my sessions for clients' individual preferences and am always open to feedback to make our sessions as helpful for you as possible.
If there was one thing you wish people knew about the therapy experience who might be hesitant to try it, what would that be?
Therapy is beneficial for anyone at any stage in life. You don’t have to go through hard times alone. A lot of people compare their pain to others and say that they do not have it as hard as someone else so they can work through it on their own. What is hard for you is hard for you. Period. Regardless of what someone else is going through. Even if you are feeling ok, therapy can be useful too. You can get many benefits from therapy such as improved relationships, improved ability to manage emotions, work through events that happened in the past, learn tools to help with challenges that could happen later, have a more positive outlook, etc.
How do you determine therapy goals with clients? What does that process look like?
We will work together to create therapy goals that make sense for you. These goals will become the focus for our sessions. One of my favorite parts of therapy is helping clients see their own unique strengths. Goal setting is an opportunity for us to discuss the strengths you already have. As you make progress on your goals, I will celebrate those wins with you! We will assess your progress throughout our time together and update goals as needed and desired.
Specialties
Depression
Depression often causes people to feel sad, empty, or hopeless, and can cause a lack of interest in life. It can also affect a person's thinking patterns and physical health.
Anxiety
Anxiety can mean nervousness, worry, or self-doubt. Anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder that entails excessive, repeated bouts of worry, anxiety, and/or fear.
Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the degree to which a person feels confident, valuable, and worthy of respect. Feeling low self-esteem can influence overall well-being and be linked to anxiety and/or depression.
Adolescent mental health
Adolescent mental health focuses on adolescent-specific experiences including physical and cognitive development, social and environmental factors, sex, sexual identification and orientation, emotional processing, and substance use. Given the influence that parents/guardians have on adolescents, home life is a particularly important consideration.
College & graduate student issues
Issues arising from being in a new environment or away from home for the first time. College-aged kids have the highest rates of mental illness, suffering things like stress, anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, and substance abuse.
General Expertise
Loss/Grief
Grief is a reaction to an emotionally significant loss and often comes with symptoms of depression or anxiety. These symptoms can remain intense and last for a long time after a loss, making it difficult to move forward with a healthy lifestyle.
Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by persistent instability in relationships, extreme emotional reactions, and chronic fear of abandonment. People with this may also tend to be moody, experiencing a lot of high highs and low lows.
Abuse/Survivors of abuse
Abuse includes any significant mistreatment along the lines of psychical, emotional, sexual, verbal, and neglect. Survivors of abuse may experience negative thoughts and feelings, flashbacks, distrust of others, social withdrawal, self-harm, and increased likelihood of developing mental health and substance abuse issues.
Body image issues
Due to continued exposure to images of “normal” or “desired” body types, people can develop a range of positive or negative emotions about their appearance causing anxiety, depression, or eating disorders.
Eating disorders
Distressing or complicated relationship with food that can lead to isolation, fear, and death. Could manifest as eating too much or too little and generally stems from someone’s complicated relationships with food or their body.
Fees
$175
First Session
$130
Individual Therapy
Types of Therapy
Individual Session
Group Session
Clientele
Young Adults (18-24)
Adults (25-65)
Adolescents (13-17)
Treatment Approaches / Modalities
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Strength Based Therapy
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Eclectic Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Training / Certifications
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Licensure
MN, LPCC, 02513
WI, LPC, 6902-125
Education
MS, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Wisconsin-Stout
MS, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Wisconsin-Stout
Work History
In my career, I have had experience working with diverse groups of people with a variety of mental health concerns. I have helped people through challenges such as multiple transitions, identity issues, changes in friendships, big life decisions, learning to balance various aspects of life, and grief and loss. I have experience working with children, teens, and adults. Some clients were in crisis or received short-term therapy, while others I worked with on a long-term basis. I incorporate multiple treatment approaches in my work with clients including client-centered, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy.
Location
Sentier Psychotherapy, 670 Cleveland Ave S, St. Paul, 55116, MN