THE FIRST STEPS
Admitting that you or your family needs help with drug abuse, alcohol abuse, or addiction is a huge first step. The uncertainty and shame about making that first call is often immobilizing.
And if you’re a parent of a teenager or young adult, you know that your job as a parent is challenging enough without the devastating effects of addiction and related mental health concerns.
What to do, where to turn, whom to talk to?
WHY ME?
I specialize in helping professionals, executives, teenagers, adults and their families sort out and effectively treat the intertwining issues associated with addiction, anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
As a licensed psychologist and certified addictions counselor with over 30 years of experience as a clinician, administrator, educator and researcher, I offer a combination of exceptional skill and quality service along with the knowledge, flexibility, and compassion to deliver my services effectively.
I emphasize skill and service because from a personal experience of addiction in my own family, I’m painfully aware of the difficulty in finding quality addiction and related mental health treatment. An important part of quality care is respectful, dignified, and courteous service. As you get to know me, you’ll find that these qualities are built in to who I am as a person and how I treat my clients.
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO WORK WITH ME
My job is to create an atmosphere of safety and hope necessary for you and/or your family member to engage in therapy to confront what is likely one of the greatest challenges of your lives.
My therapy approach can be summarized as:
-
Collaborative: We’ll work together to identify your existing strengths and resources as well as any obstacles that are in the way of moving forward. I’ll help you develop tools and strategies you'll need to help you meet your goals.
-
-
Solution-focused: I see myself as a problem-solver. I don’t have “answers” to your problems, per se, but we’ll establish specific goals, with my job being to develop a plan for you to achieve your goals and resolve the problems.
-
-
Holistic: I’ll work with you to enable you to feel better about yourself emotionally, physically, socially, and spiritually.
MOVING FORWARD WITH HOPE
Based on what you want to accomplish in treatment, I’ll help you figure out where and how to begin, as well as offer options for you to gain some traction to take further steps forward.
I’ve become a better therapist by witnessing my clients’ honesty and courage, sharing their life experiences and knowledge, and becoming a partner with them in their unique paths in recovery.
I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.
MY PRACTICE NEWS
Member of the advisory board of Broken No More, an organization whose mission is to 1) provide support and guidance to those who have lost a loved one due to substance use 2) advance the treatment of, and eventual cures for addiction/substance use disorder in a meaningful and useful way, and 3) effect positive policy changes in the current failed war on drugs.
Broken No More, through it's affiliate organization GRASP (Grief Recovery After a Substance Passing), has a national network of support groups providing sources of help, compassion and understanding for families or individuals who have had a loved one die as a result of substance abuse or addiction.
ONLINE PUBLICATIONS (with links to sites)
-Parents of Addicts Resource Center (PARC)
-Contributor to ADHD expert panel at EverydayHealth.com
-Contributor to Banana Moments, a guide for parents in the Network Culture
