Suzy Oswald Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate

Suzy Oswald, Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate, STL2416241 is practicing under the supervision of Brownell Hilger (Minnesota, LICSW, 15731) at Intentional Self Counseling, Coaching, and Consultation.

Please, note: A clinician listed as being “clinically supervised” is completing clinical hours toward their licensure. They have one or more fully licensed clinical supervisors that often have special training to become supervisors. They consult with their supervisor(s) on all of their cases, which means that, when working with them, you are getting the time and expertise of multiple therapists in your treatment.

In the land of luxury car therapists, I am the Jeep with a ski rack. Down to earth, functional, authentic and unapologetic with the ability to get you through any kind of rough terrain. We have a job to do, and we're going to get there without a bunch of fluff. If that sounds like a plan to you, then let's give this a whir! I know you have strength, even when you doubt, I will be your biggest cheerleader, and I will keep you accountable to the changes you want to make!

So, here's what you're getting when you hire me: We start like most therapists generally do - by encouraging you to confront fears, break through barriers, and embrace personal growth. I understand that change can be hard, but I provide unwavering support and guidance throughout the process that empowers my clients to discover their own inner resilience. One of the first assignments, yes assignments, is determining “Who am I?” And discovering and defining how you want to show up for your life. We will identify through assessments any specified diagnoses we need to work on and coming up with actionable steps to process, understand, and move beyond possible maladaptive behaviors or limiting beliefs.

I'm known for being authentic and empathic, but also for bringing some tough love. I firmly believe that we all have the innate strength to overcome life's obstacles. Sometimes that strength just needs a little guidance to be teased out. My stance is holistic, the approach steeped in Mindfulness, nutrition, DBT/CBT/REBT, and Solution-Focused therapy.

I have worked within the substance use disorder field at Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, as licensed substance use disorder counselor. As I grow as a clinician, I am continuing to advance my practice to include work with mental health issues as well. We call this co-occurring disorders as when you have one, it’s more than likely you will have the other… but not always. Many people, especially since the Covid-19 lockdown, have spoken to me of social anxiety, isolation, depression, General and debilitating overwhelm and chronic worsening substance use. I believe these conditions are more the rule rather than the exception as we all re-emerge, or try to, back into the functioning world. While initially it was difficult to be shut down or isolated from others, not seeing to our self-care or “not doing” what we used to, those have now become maladaptive habits that are impossible to change. I work with clients on the goals they have for their lives, whatever that looks like for them, providing understanding and coping skills for behavior patterns. Helping people actually put in to motion what they KNOW they want to change but finding it hard to actually DO those things. Knowing is much different than Doing, Believing, and Thinking of the changes one wishes to make.