Individual Counseling
When working with individuals, my goal is to establish a supportive, compassionate space where your personal background, values, and lived experiences are fully respected. In our work together, my approach is collaborative. I work in partnership with you, recognizing that we both arrive in the therapy space with wisdom, insight, and capacities that will aid our process.
Narrative Therapy
I utilize a Narrative Therapy approach. Though similar in many ways to other types of counseling, Narrative Therapy has some notable differences that clients often appreciate.
Instead of looking for faulty thinking in need of correction (or treating psychiatric diagnoses as if they are diseases to be cured rather than elements of a professional belief system) my goal is to help you understand what you are up against in life, untangle this from your sense of self, and empower you in building a path forward that feels authentic and manageable for your circumstances.
A narrative approach rests on a simple principle: the person is not the problem; the problem is the problem.
This means we’ll talk about the problem, be it anxiousness, sadness, hopelessness, anger, jealousy, or any other issues that keep coming up for you and that are making your life difficult. We’ll talk about how the problem influences you, and how you’ve tried to influence it.
It’s all about inquiry!
As eluded to above, my work is rooted in asking useful questions about your relationship with the problem - questions that invite a broader understanding of issues and a fresh look at your life. Together, we will explore the intersecting story lines (“throughlines”) of your life, with special attention on the effects of external pressures - such as social expectations, family dynamics, early learning, cultural norms, or even psychiatric concepts - that impact your well-being, your sense of self, and your personal agency.
Whether you are concerned about your mental health, navigating a major life transition, or simply feeling stuck, our work will focus on:
Understanding the Stories You Live Within: We will seek to understand how your past, present, and sense of the future have been influenced by the contexts of your life; how you’ve resisted, rebelled, or coped with problems; and which stories you prefer.
Reducing Self-Blame: We separate your core identity from the symptoms or stress you are experiencing, making room to address problems with clarity and kindness rather than shame. We will give unhelpful and destructive stories back to the places, people, and situations that ought to own them.
Building Personal Clarity: I will help you identify your personal strengths, values, and insights so you can better understand your choices and take actions that align with what truly matters to you.
Availability
I see individual clients by telehealth Sunday through Thursday from 10 AM to 7 PM.
I have limited options for in-person sessions on Mondays in Monroe, WA at Stories of Hope.