About Therapy

Through collaboration and connection I help clients find their values (what's important to you) and start creating a life that you feel connected to. Through awareness, courage and love on both our parts we can create meaning in your life. This work might include grief and mourning strategies. It might include action-packed therapy sessions which will help you sort out the "away moves" and the "toward moves" (more on those later) that will take you toward your valued living. The sessions also might include mindfulness strategies, meditation practice or a safe space to share, to be heard and understood. 

Any therapy is an opportunity to make positive change in your life, finding healthier and better relationships, increasing your love, joy and passion for the work you do, taking better care of your health and wellness and changing destructive habits.  In the past depression, anxiety or other mental illnesses brought people to therapy and counseling, but more people visit a therapist for a number of other issues including work related problems, personal growth, increasing happiness in daily living as well as learning new and healthy ways to care for yourself. 

A few words about self-help web sites and books. These are great tools to help you with whatever areas of growth you want to work on. But the best source of change and growth is going to depend on the relationship experience—that connection with another person, a non-judgmental, warm and empathetic person to collaborate with you and help you live by your values.  

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

My main frame work where much of my work comes from is based in "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" or ACT, said as a word—not by initials as that sounds too much like ECT (short for electroconvulsive therapy) which is hardly a favorable association and more positively because the term reminds us that this approach encourages active involvement in living” (Hayes, Strosahl and Wilson, 2012)

ACT is based on the idea the psychological inflexibility is the main cause of our anxiety, depression and other emotional suffering. It is a values based therapy that helps people rely less on problem solving and more on an open and centered way of living. There are six key ways to nurture and create psychological flexibility: delusion, acceptance, attention to the present moment, perspective taking, values and committed action. (Hayes, Strosahl and Wilson, 2012)

FOR MORE DETAILS ON ACT THERAPY PLEASE VISIT: ASSOCIATION FOR CONTEXTUAL BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE AT:HTTPS://CONTEXTUALSCIENCE.ORG