What’s the most profound, insightful, or interesting thing you’ve learned as a mental health professional?
Education is not always in a classroom or a textbook, it is where you find it.
If you could pick one movie or book that influenced your approach to therapy, what would it be and why?
Do not skip the little things in life, or those events that one would rather avoid. For it is these events that you which to fast-forward that can make all the difference, and could be the most important – inspired by the movie “Click”
What is your style/approach to therapy?
Counselors give advice. Unsure about what to do? They’ll tell you. This is comforting. This is helpful. This, however, is not therapy. Therapy is giving a patient, through open-ended questions and carefully timed interpretations, the ability to solve their own problems. Its goal is emotional release, insight, and growth.
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.
Work Stress
Workplace issues are a common source of stress and can include interpersonal conflict, communication problems, gossip, harassment, discrimination, low motivation and job satisfaction, performance issues, and poor job fit.
Anger management
It's normal to experience anger at times, but for some, it becomes so frequent, intense, or difficult to control that it negatively affects their life. Anger management is a structured therapeutic approach toward reducing one’s anger to a point where more appropriate coping and/or conflict management skills are used. Beliefs and thoughts leading toward anger outbursts are explored while healthy coping and interpersonal skills are put into practice.
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.
General Expertise
Careers
Designed to help people choose, change, or leave a career at any stage of life. Careers are often wrapped up in people’s perceived identity, therefore, any change can cause anxiety and/or depression.
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.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety or social phobia is fear of social situations or a fear of interacting with people other than close friends and family. Social anxiety can be persistent, intense, and debilitating, greatly affecting daily life.
Academic challenges
Concerns that impact school performance or academic life. Can include perfectionism, bullying, financial stress, academic transitions, test anxiety, balancing school with other responsibilities, discrimination, or harassment.
Fees
$150
First Session
$150
Family Therapy
$150
Couples Therapy
$150
Individual Therapy
Types of Therapy
Family Session
Couples Session
Group Session
Individual Session
Clientele
Parents
Young Adults (18-24)
Adults (25-65)
Seniors (65+)
Treatment Approaches / Modalities
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Mindfulness Practices
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Training / Certifications
American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) #9127
Licensure
NM, Psychologist, PSY1643
KS, Psychologist, LP2178
Education
Post-Doctoral Masters of Science, Clinical Psychopharmacology, Alliant International University
Doctor of Philosophy, Clinical Psychology, Nova Southeastern University
Masters of Science, Clinical Psychology, Nova Southeastern University
Masters of Arts, Forensic Psychology, Castleton State College
Work History
My approach to treatment goes beyond CBT. As one client described: “Your opening technique is CBT, like a boxer’s jab. If this fails, then you use ACT like a boxer’s right cross.” Stated in another away, in addition to competencies in CBT, I also have a therapeutic approach heavily influenced by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999). Unlike CBT, the ACT model utilizes mindfulness, acceptance, cognitive diffusion, and other strategies to promote psychological health. This therapeutic approach addresses the notion that the mind is constantly running and cannot be directly changed. Rather than struggling to change thoughts, the goal of treatment is focusing on what clients really want in life and changing their behaviors, despite thoughts attempting to thwart these achievements. In my therapeutic approach, when clients struggle or obsess about their thinking, rather than persist with CBT techniques like a “failing jab”, ACT can be a powerful alternative to address psychological suffering. In CBT, the method is directly addressing symptoms and eliminating them. ACT looks to accept symptoms without struggling to change, while cultivating meaningful activities to achieve a valued life.
Location
Telehealth, Lewisburg, 17837, PA