My Intention

For Potential Clients: My intention is to hold space for your endless possibilities of change. By guiding you towards experiencing more confidence, calmness, clarity, and compassion, you can find the wisdom already within you. When life presents hardships, I hope you are able to access what is already within you, and you do so more easily and frequently. Then this can lead to a more kind and loving relationship with yourself and others.

Furthermore, I hope this page gives you a sense of clients I have been successful in providing therapy to, and some of my limitations as a therapist. I am the therapist you work with when you already have some skills in managing your symptoms and daily life. Our work together can help you heal unresolved experiences or emotions and make lasting changes in yourself and in your relationships.

Beginning Therapy

In our first session we will review paperwork you have filled out to ensure clarity, identify your goals for therapy, and explore your current symptoms and circumstances. Usually, it takes several sessions for us to build a trusting relationship as I continue to explore your background. The success of therapy is significantly based on if we are a good fit for one another and your willingness to change. Initially, I recommend weekly sessions to start, then eventually move to bi-weekly, monthly, or as-needed sessions. However, this is your therapy. You decide the frequency of sessions unless I recommend more is medically necessary.

Therapy

In Session

In due time, and when you feel comfortable, we will explore the underlying causes of your current feelings, behaviors and circumstances. We will discuss my approaches and see if its of interest to you. My typical session structure is:

  • The first 5-10 minutes you may tell me what you feel is important for me to know since I last saw you.
  • Then you name what you would like to focus on.
  • Because the majority of sessions are focused on healing, I generally don’t give assignments.
  • Once in awhile you may want to spend a session talking only and not do healing work. This is your choice and it’s up to you! While doing the healing work may seem scary or intimidating, you get to control how deep we go and at what pace. Most people feel a sense of relief or better after talking or venting, but may not experience long-term benefits or change. My best work is when I guide you in healing.
  • In doing healing work, the goal isn’t to heal 100%. I don’t know that complete healing is even humanly possible! Healing work allows you to return to peace or contentment more quickly, and stay there longer.

Life Experiences I Work With:

  • Trauma and Tragedies
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Grief and Loss (changes in life involve feelings of loss)
  • Relationship and communication issues (intimate, family of origin, friends, work)
  • Addictions (including behavioral addictions) *see below
  • Members of oppressed populations; If I have a wait list and you identify as an oppressed person(s), let me know and you will be moved to the top of my wait list.

Clientele

In addition to working with adult individuals, I work with those in intimate relationships.

Intimate Relationships: My experience working with intimate relationships:

  • a partner with an extensive trauma history
  • someone struggles with an addiction
  • emotional and physical affairs
  • oppressed person(s)
  • increase connectedness and intimacy with improved communication skills
  • adult children and parents

Other intimate relationships I am interested in working with: colleagues, non-monogamous, and friends.

I request couples I work with provide a commitment to their relationship and to therapy for six months. If a member of the couple has “one foot in the relationship, one foot out” I encourage you to work with a Discernment Counselor. Find a Discernment Counselor in your area on Psychology Today.

If violence is occurring in your relationship, please contact a therapist who specializes in domestic violence on Psychology Today or Waypoint Services: 319.365.1458.

Mental Health Professionals: I work with mental health providers, many seeking IFS. Also, I work with couples where one or both partners are mental health or medical professionals.

Ages: I work with individuals and couples in their 30’s to 70’s. While I don’t work with those younger than 18 years old, see below for information.

  • Children: I highly recommend a Play Therapist for children. I can offer referrals to therapists who provide this service or you may search Psychology Today
  • Teens/Adolescents: I can offer referrals to therapists who specifically work with teens, or you may search Psychology Today.

Crisis: For those who experience regular crisis or emergencies, suicidal tendancies, or psychosis, I am not a good fit. I am only available for phone calls and emails during regular office hours and it may be up to 48 hours or longer before I am able to respond. Therefore, I cannot provide services for those who experience crisis regularly or emergencies, require communication outside of regular office hours, or on-call services for emergencies. To work with a therapist who can assist you, contact Mercy, Unity Point, or Abbe Mental Health Center.

If you are in crisis now, please contact Cedar Rapids area Foundation 2 at 319.362.2174 or 800.332.4224, chat online foundation2crisischat.org. National text or call 988, chat online. Or go to the nearest emergency room.

Addictions: No one says, “I want to become an alcoholic…shopaholic…self-harm…involved in abusive relationships.” Underneath painful behaviors like addictions or abuse of self or others, are painful losses and wounds like neglect or unresolved trauma. Together, we work on building the capacity to address and resolve the underlying pain; therefore, numbing is less necessary.

In the event I determine you need a higher level of care, I will refer you to a local treatment center:

Therapists and counselors with CADC credentials are specialized in treating substance use disorders.