If you could pick one movie or book that influenced your approach to therapy, what would it be and why?
"Feeling Good" by David Burns changed the way that I practice! It was by reading this book that I began to realize the power our thoughts have over our emotions and actions. It taught me that if we can learn to challenge our negative thoughts it can have a profound impact on our ability to change our lives for the better.
In what ways have your personal experiences influenced your work with your clients?
When I was a teenager I was forced into court-ordered therapy. I feel like I gained nothing from this, even though I am sure that the therapist tried the best they could to help me. As I started to be a provider myself, I looked back on this experience and recognized that a person really has to be ready to make their own changes and to even talk about them in the first place. I let this guide my practice, so I always make sure to go at the client's pace and not force them into talking about or doing anything that they are not ready for.
How do you determine therapy goals with clients? What does that process look like?
I try to learn as much as I can about a client, as they are the experts of their own situation. Once I have a good understanding of what the client has been through, I then direct them through questions like, "so how would you like things to be different now" and "what would you like to do with that information." This leads to a collaboration to develop treatment goals, with a combination of what the client wants to achieve and how I can help them get there.
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.
Relationship Issues
Refers relationship issues with a partner or spouse. Can include issues related to relationship distress, relationship satisfaction, communication, intimacy, etc.
Stress
Distress stems from a subjective perception of something being unwanted, undesirable, or detrimental to your wellbeing. Excessive stress significantly impairs mental and physical health and is associated with many diseases and conditions.
Behavioral Issues
Behavioral disorders involve a pattern of disruptive behaviors that cause problems in school, at home, and in social situations. Can include hyperactivity, impulsivity, defiant behavior, chronic patterns of aggression, defiance, disruption, and/or hostility.
General Expertise
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.
Adoption & foster care
Adoption and foster care considerations include education on the process, integrating the new family, establishing household rules and boundaries, processing past trauma on behalf of the child, emotional health, and other adjustment procedures.
Attachment issues
Children that experience parents and/or guardians that are avoidant, ambivalent, or resistant from an early age, may develop attachment issues. This can manifest as difficulty forming or maintaining friendships, romantic relationships and empathetic bonds throughout life, as well as other issues.
Caregiver stress & support
Caring for a friend or family member (paid or unpaid) includes emotional support, housework, help with finances, medication management, and shopping. Can be stressful, making caregivers more vulnerable to things like anxiety, isolation, and fatigue.
Child mental health
Children can be impacted by things like anxiety, depression, ADHD and more. However, they can be difficult to identify because kids aren’t always able to communicate effectively. Untreated, child mental health issues can have long-term effects.
Fees
$130
First Session
$130
Family Therapy
$130
Couples Therapy
$200
Group Therapy
$130
Individual Therapy
Types of Therapy
Group Session
Family Session
Individual Session
Couples Session
Clientele
Parents
Young Adults (18-24)
Adults (25-65)
Treatment Approaches / Modalities
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Mindfulness Practices
Strength Based Therapy
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
Attachment-Based Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Family Systems Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Narrative Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Positive Psychology
Psychodynamic Therapy
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Structural Family Therapy
The Gottman Method
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Accelerated Resolution Therapy
Licensure
NM, LCSW, C-11012
Education
Master of Social Work, New Mexico State University
Work History
I began practicing as a therapist working with youth involved in the juvenile justice system and their families. After doing this intensive family work for a few years, I began providing individual and couple's therapy with an agency who provided services for the community. In this work I began specializing in anxiety, depression, and behavior alteration. When I started this work, it happened to be right at the start of the Covid pandemic so I had to quickly adapt to providing telehealth services. Since then, I have learned all of the advantages that can come with telehealth. I have thus been transitioning into private practice where I plan to continue to provide telehealth services to those who might otherwise not be able to have access!
Location
Remote Therapy, Las Cruces, 88005, NM