My Specialties:

 

• Feeling stuck emotionally, relationally, spiritually, or professionally 

• Repetitive unproductive behavior patterns 

• Marriage difficulties

• Pre-engagement & Pre-marital counseling 

• Feelings of anxiety, self-doubt, or depression

• A sense of sadness or hopelessness 

• Feeling overwhelmed or stressed

• Difficulty with motivation  

• Concerns about relationships with friends,  family, or a boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance 

• Difficulties with transitions 

• Rape, sexual assault, or relationship violence 

• Co-dependency 

• Adolescent behaviors and problems 

• PTSD 

• Trauma 

• Inner healing

• Communication skills

• Personal growth and development

• UCD students needing either long-term therapy and/or more support

• Christian counseling (see below)

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For those interested in Christian counseling:

I have helped many Christian believers learn new approaches to coping with life's complexities and unique circumstances. Please note: You do not need to be Christian or have any religious background in order to see me. I respect individuals with all religious and non-religious backgrounds.

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There are moments when each of us must face situations that challenge us on an emotional, physical, and spiritual level and sometimes we just need encouragement, support, and prayer to help achieve our personal and spiritual growth. I encourage you that seeking counseling is a strength and not a weakness;  in Proverbs 11:14, 24:6, and 12:14 it mentions the importance of counselors in our lives. It does not matter where your walk is with God and how much you practice Christianity and/or go to church; I want to help you, not judge you. My family and I attend FBC in Davis and I have completed 4 years of ministry school.

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Are we a good fit?: I do not offer free consultation/'get to know you' hours. Similar to a hospital setting, there is a lot of work involved in creating and obtaining the first appointment. I suggest us talking over the phone and you asking me any important questions you may have during the phone intake. I allow up to 15 minutes for us to have this time. It's also important to note that there are some people I cannot help:

-I do not meet with individuals wanting to do individual counseling due to challenges they are having with their long-term partner. My goal is to see relationships thrive, and at times, individual counseling for these purposes could potentially create more strife in the relationship. I would be happy to see you and your partner for couple's counseling and/or refer you to a colleague willing to see you for individual counseling. If you and your partner are already receiving couple's counseling, at that time I would be willing to see you for individual counseling.

-My approach is solution focused and I value having seen so many people healed and transformed by this approach. If it appears that we are not trying to find and work on solutions to challenges coming up, counseling with me may not be sustainable. I understand that at times the solution is simply just being able to vent and process situations coming up and receive unconditional positive regard.

-I cannot provide crisis care. Crisis care requires 24/7 contact, as well as agreements for an individual to seek out medical and psychiatric treatment often. Individuals who are in crisis are contemplating killing themselves or others and/or have some type of psychosis occurring. I do not provide these services.

-If you are in the mental health field, I understand that it may be difficult to be vulnerable and open up about challenges to another mental health professional for many reasons. I want to meet you where you are at and take things at your pace of comfortability. I would like us to continue to check-in to make sure we are making some forward progress. Again, my approach is solution focused and it may be difficult for me to help you resolve any challenges if there is an ongoing unwillingness to admit and/or see and address those challenges.

-It can often times be counterproductive to receive counsel from several avenues, especially if the recommendations are conflicting. Having additional resources and support outside of our counseling time is very helpful and recommended. If I learn that we are either duplicating services and/or you're receiving conflicting information from another counselor, I would like to process this more with you, and may suggest we discontinue counseling and encourage you to continue with that other resource.

-I only do weekly sessions for new clients. It is not helpful to meet less frequently. Again, my approach is solution focused and it is important to me that I see that we are resolving your challenges adequately.

-Frequent cancellations, whether within the cancellation time-frame or not, will result in either me terminating services or suggesting we move to an 'on-call' basis where you will no longer have a set appointment time, but you can call me when you would like my help for that week and I can let you know if I have any openings.

-Though rare, ruptures in the therapeutic relationship come up. This can happen when, for example, authorities need to be contacted by the therapist when either the client or a known individual is in danger. This can at times create trust issues between the client and therapist. Also at times there might be an offense either the client and/or therapist have while working together. This may be actually beneficial to the healing process; however, if it appears that the offense continues to be an ongoing issue, it might be best to see another therapist. Ethically as therapists we need to consistently assess if we are being effective with the people we are meeting with. If not, it's important to receive counsel from someone else.