Person-Centered (Rogerian)

You will be supported as an individual in my sessions, and allowed to feel your emotions and be encouraged to do so. I work hard to avoid judgment in my sessions, as judgement will shut down growth and change.

Through a Person-Centered approach to therapy, I will create an atmosphere that is inviting and accepting. I will essentially meet you exactly where you are and will empower you through continued increases in self-acceptance and modifications of behavior.

Person-centered therapy allows the client to guide their sessions and therapeutic journey. Through validation, empathy, and active listening, I support clients in their journey to self-discovery and personal growth.

As an integrative clinician, my approach is grounded in person-centered, psychodynamic, and cognitive behavioral (CBT) therapies. I find that approaching therapy from one set theoretical orientation limits therapy’s effectiveness because every client differs in their lived experiences and social identities. I firmly believe that the most important part of therapy to seeing and treating the client in front of you. Throughout therapy, you will always be the center of your care.

I was privileged to do my doctoral training in a department that took a very Rogerian, person-centered approach to therapy. This was especially crucial for me, as this is the style that naturally resonates with my instincts. Without meaning to sound like a broken record, I feel strongly that therapy has to begin with forming a real human connection. Thus, person-centered therapy is embedded, I would say, into all of the work that I do.

My doctoral studies and training focused extensively on classical, Client-Centered theory and therapies in the tradition founded by Carl Rogers. I teach Person-Centered therapy at the graduate level, contributing to clinical research and international conferences.

My graduate school training was taught with a focus in person-centered therapy, and I have continued to use this as a baseline for my clinical practice throughout my work.

As a social worker, I meet the client where they are, and I follow their lead. I set the frame with clear boundaries leaving a lot of space for the client to feel safe and secure to share knowing that they will be accepted and not judged. My approach is interactive, open, authentic and unconditionally supportive. I see the interaction as a collaborative partnership to help my clients achieve a greater sense of wellbeing in their lives.

I am client-focused in my therapeutic approach, and work to provide a genuine, warm, and affirming environment to assist my clients in exploring their issues, develop alternative coping styles, and work to resolve problems in their life. I am enthusiastic about my work, and privileged to experience an individual's ability to rediscover their authentic self.

I use a person centered approach, which believes the client is the expert on their own experience and the therapist helps to guide in growth. As a therapist, this means I place importance on a collaborative and safe relationship which values client autonomy, self-actualization and uniqueness.

I believe that a combination of orientations typically work best for my clients

You are the expert of your life. I want you to feel in control of the sessions. I have always modeled my sessions for you to guide them, I am there to help, encourage, and be the sound board you need. I never want you to feel uncomfortable or that you weren't ready to explore a topic.

Ever since I did a paper on Carl Rogers in college, he has always been one of my favorite theorists. I see his concept of unconditional positive regard for the client at the center of what all modern therapists and coaches do. Thus his concepts are at the heart of what I do.

According to Carl Rogers, “gaining one’s own self-regard is the goal we really wish most to achieve.” Through my formal education on Person-Centered Therapy as well as my own personal experience receiving this form of therapy, I engage with clients in a warm, empathic, accepting and genuine manner. I believe that clients are not disorders to be cured, but (like Rogers) they are flowers with unending potential, that simply need the right conditions for growth.

Person-centered counseling is the basis for all the work I do with clients. I value and honor you and your lived experiences in our work together.

I consider it an honor to sit with my clients and hold a compassionate, non-judgmental space for them to discuss shame, hurt, and pain in order to move forward and find hope and healing. I believe change occurs within a safe, supportive, non-judgmental therapeutic space. I aim to create a space where my clients to be able to be themselves.