Individual Therapy
Many people think of therapy as one person in a room with a therapist talking about their problems. That's what it may look like from the outside, but there's more under the surface.
Every client-therapist relationship is unique, but therapists typically have a few techniques that they have success and familiarity with. These are called modalities. Names often end up being so long that we refer to them with letters, like CBT, DBT, and EMDR.
Modalities I use
I use a combination of many modalities and techniques. If you're curious, I use Internal Family Systems and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). You can learn more about both of those from clicking on their links.
I also center approaches that work towards continuing to improve as an antiracist, decolonizing, queer, gender-affirming, anti-ableist, anti-capitalist, and otherwise antioppressive practice. I recognize my privilege as a white-perceived US citizen on the ancestral lands of countless indigenous nations in what is now called the United States. There are things I have not experienced that you may have. That is true of all of us, though. And I aim to identify and strengthen my growth edges while using my privilege as a shield and platform for those who do not have it.
Queer Relationship Therapy
Some people would better know this form of therapy as "Couples Counseling." However, this reflects an assumption in our society: that people pair up in heterosexual relationships where sexual and romantic needs are met exclusively through this partnership, often with the intent of having children.
Relationships are more complicated than that. They can be between people of myriad genders, sexual orientations, and romantic orientations. There are relationship structures where more than two people are committed to each other. This may or may not include sex or romance. Some people want nothing to do with hierarchy in their relationships and prefer to form unique relationships with each person in their life. And, while it is of course valid to want to raise children, not everyone has that desire.
You can see then that Queer Relationship Therapy is not just couples counseling for gay people by someone who took a class on it at some point. It challenges the assumptions we have about the ways we care for and relate to each other and strives for building a better world for those we love.
Interestly enough, I also use IFS for queer relationship therapy. This allows me to work with multiple people towards shared goals, whether it is to remain in committed relationships or find an amicable way to part ways. You don't have to be married or even dating. Relationship counseling could be relevant for intimate friendships or family members. A lot can vary from person to person, so reach out if you have any questions.
Group Therapy
I am also trained in using group therapy modalities to treat a number of people at the same time to help them with their individual challenges using the interactions between group members to spark positive change.
A couple of my favorite ways I have been trained is the use of a method you might not expect to see in the group setting: EMDR. If you are curious about how that works, check out the linked article.
In the summary on this page, you will see if there are any current groups that I am running. If not, we can put you on a waitlist for future groups. If you are part of an organization that might benefit from me facilitating one of these groups for your organization, please contact me and we can see what I may be able to do.
