Welcome

Welcome to my Website! So glad you have taken the time to visit my website. Here you will find information about my work as a therapist and my creativity workshops.  These are stressful times we live in. The Covid-19 virus is affecting all of our lives in one way or another.  Job loss, depression, relational difficulties, concerns about staying safe only add to all the other stressors in life.  As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I'm here to listen, give feedback and help and support women through the ups and downs of life. Together, we can identify your stressors and coping abilities, methods to develop strengths and learn tools to manage anxiety, depression and lower the effects of stress in your life.  Anxiety and depression can keep you stuck and unable to manage your life, but with support and guidance, you can feel better.  More and more women are developing chronic illnesses and are struggling to identify what they want to do with their lives.  Loneliness is on the rise as is the long term effects of trauma. The good news is, you do not have to suffer alone. You do not have to live day-to-day in emotional pain. Together we explore the issues that can affect relationships including those you have with yourself. One technique I use is cognitive behavioral therapy to uncover thought patterns that contribute to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression that can block happiness. Understanding the core beliefs you carry within is an important step to identify self-sabotaging behaviors. Support is only a phone call away. You deserve to have a life you are excited to wake up to. As women, single, married, widowed, partnered or divorced, we must learn self-care, how to set healthy boundaries, how to say "No," and when to ask for help. With self-exploration, understanding how past trauma can affect one's life today,  the healing process can begin! My Therapy Practice Specialties Individuals Art & Talk Therapy Women Anxiety Depression Career & Work Dilemmas Creative Freeze Chronic Health Issues Being Single in a Coupled World To be a Mother or Not  My fees: My fee for individual, 50 min session is $125. If you are struggling financially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, you can also work with me through the OPEN PATHS PSYCHOTHERAPY COLLECTIVE, which provides sliding scale fees. Go to their website at: www.openpathpsychotherapycollective.org for more info.  Video Therapy Due to the cover-19, therapy sessions are being held via telephone and/or video conferencing. Confidential remains my Talk Therapy I bring a wealth of life experiences both professionally and personally to the work I do with clients. I provide a safe and warm approach to therapy using a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy and Mind Body approaches.  Whether we use traditional "talk" therapy and/or integrate creative expression, personal therapy can be an adventure rather than a drain.  Knowing oneself is an amazing gift to give to yourself. A therapy begins when we first connect over the phone. I will ask you a few basic questions about why you are seeking therapy at this time in your life and what your goals are for therapy. I will explain to you briefly how I work, my fee and the location of my office. If we decide to work together, we will set an appointment date and time.  I will email you my intake form and questionnaire for you to fill in and bring to the first session.  On the scheduled date, we will meet. I try to make clients feel comfortable to talk about what is going on in your life. I don't "fix" clients; I help guide and support you. Art therapy is a mental health profession that uses different art mediums to express thoughts and feelings. Images, colors and symbols will trigger feelings quicker and easier than words alone. It is not about how good an artist you are, it is about putting your feelings down on paper or expressed with clay. The process is here and now. It is not about the product. Client and therapist discuss the what it was like to create the art and what came up while creating the art piece. Therapists do not interpret, the ask questions to help clients make sense of their art. I do not take insurance, but I can provide you with a SuperBill that you can submit to your insurance company. My regular 1 hour fee is $125. I take checks, cash and Paypal and Venmo. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24 Hours 1800-273-8255 Teen Hotline 800-852-8336 A few tips for coping with the COVID-10  PAUSE.Breathe. Notice how you feel  TAKE BREAKSfrom COVID-19 content  MAKE TIMEto sleep and exercise  REACH OUTand stay connected  SEEK HELPif overwhelmed or unsafe General public health information WORKSHOP NEWS QUARANTINE ART MAKING  Pick up your paint brushes, oil pastels, art journal, colored pencils and start creating to decrease anxiety, loneliness, frustration and more. As an art therapist and psychotherapist, AND a creative mentor, I see my role as helping to inspire women to explore their fun-loving and daring creative side, which we all have!  And, how you can use art to express thoughts and feelings that might be difficult to express with words alone. Engaging in a creative practice can add calm, joy and insight into your life.  What is so amazing about process art, is that it is not about right or wrong or whether you consider yourself artistic, it is about allowing yourself a safe place to play and explore what comes out on the page! It is not judging what you create, but allowing yourself to enjoy the freedom of the process.  I combine my varied background in the arts, psychology, spirituality, and women's studies to my work with women.  Aids in Managing depression, anxiety, and stress Increases insight into your life Improves motivation and focus Provides time for you Adds joy to your life Collage A creative practice: Through the process of art-making you build a healthy, loving and trusting relationship with yourself.  I believe the saying goes, the most important marriage you will ever have is with yourself! Why is this important? Because, whether you are in a relationship or find yourself alone, which chances are you will at some point in your life, you have enjoy your own company. That's right. So, I help women like themselves whether alone or partnered. It is essential to your emotional well being. I will write more about that later. Lastly, if you are a woman lacking motivation, or living with a chronic illness or wanting to feel happier and more content in your life, I might just be the therapist you are looking for.  Or, my workshop Women and Creativity might be worth checking out. I offer in person, group and workshop sessions. Many challenges can get in the way of getting to an office appointment therefore, traditional in office sessions are not always an option. There is nothing worse than being in emotional pain, wanting support and guidance, but not having the energy or time to make it across town. Having choices is what women need today.   MANDALA

What is Psychotherapy? And, Why go to a Therapist?

I am a supporter, believer and provider of psychotherapy....not because I am a licensed psychotherapist, but because I know first-hand how therapy can guide and help people through life's challenges.  I use the metaphor of the ocean to explain how life is not always a journey of calm seas--there are swells, storms, rip tides, sea creatures, and unexpected shifts in the tides. along the way. These conditions are difficult to bypass when traveling the sea of life.  What is different about being out in the ocean is that in our lives we are not given an instruction manual to direct us through life's turbulent waters.  If we seek advice from friends and family members, we will get different solutions to one problem. We are given friends, families, and other significant relationships to hopefully comfort us,  but many times we need someone to just listen, someone who won't place judgement on us, interrupt us with their personal stories, and who will not discuss our private thoughts and feelings with others. That is how therapy is different. It provides a safe place to share thoughts and feelings without fear that what we say will be gossiped about, and we are being listened to by a trained clinician who can identify behavior patterns and give us tools to manage sabotaging thoughts.

There continues to be a stigma attached to seeing a therapist.  There are many who still believe that only "crazy" people seek psychotherapy and that talking about feelings is for the weak among us. This could not be further from the truth.  For instance, why would you want to live your life continuing to repeat the same mistakes, engage in unhealthy relationships or live a life of mistrust of yourself and those around you? Wouldn't it be easier to learn methods and tools to manage self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors? Wouldn't life be more enjoyable if you only knew how to control and manage depression, anxiety, anger and behaviors that create chaos in your life?

Learning tools to manage anxiety and depression can mean the difference between living a life of pain and unhappiness instead of feeling in control and trusting ones self. Learning methods to alter the self-defeating internal dialogue is one way to begin the process. How we speak to ourselves when no one is around keeps us doubting ourselves and that effects our relationships, work, and mood.

So,why would you consider seeing a psychotherapist? Some people choose to go to therapy because of a life-altering experience: they lose their job; their marriage falls apart;  they experience a death of a friend or family member; they experience a trauma or near death experience; they suffer a serious health challenge.  Then their are individuals who seek out therapy to develop greater self-awareness and grow as human-beings.  There might not be one specific issue they come into therapy hoping to resolve, but they want to understand themselves better. So you see, therapy is for those among us who want to develop a personal manual to aid them and guide them through the ebbs of a flows of the sea of life.

Next post I will write more about a few of different types of psychotherapy that are out there.

Be well in body, mind and spirit!