My Space

What to expect from a session:

My first sessions usually involve many questions. I jokingly refer to it as a Dateline or Oprah segment. It helps me to understand more and gives you a chance to share what is going on. I recognize the courage this takes and how exhausting it can be if you have told your story many times or explaining it is tiring.

I move slowly if needed and therapy looks like a conversation, not a interrogation. Sessions after are guided by previous ideas you shared and homework I may have given as a check-in with further work on the previous presenting issues. I generally work in a present time space, so we usually start with checking in on how your week is going, what you noticed with some of your self-care or healthy coping, and how you are feeling. We then move towards the threads of common issues, patterns, and action you could possibly try or roadblocks you notice. There are times in session where we will look at your past traumas, family history, relationships, career, and other spaces of your life, but in general, we stay fairly present.

Ideas I promote:

I always welcome feedback and questions about the process and try to cater it all to how you might operate. An example of this would be what we call narrative therapy where we speak about how you see your story. If this might feel to monotonous or heavy we could then switch to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy where we focus on some thinking errors which might be occurring. This is all called an eclectic approach which means I take many theories in therapy and use what seems to promote good feelings or change for you.

Eclectic integrative therapy

Eclectic integrative therapy involves a different technique in contrast to traditional therapy. This is more about a systems approach-think about the solar system and all the constellations circling around interacting and interconnecting. You are the center of this process but are affected by many variables around you. This makes up the pieces of your own ecosystem and world. My approach looks from a distance with at any patterns, or stories you carry around which may not be serving you.

At times we might dig deeper into you past but I remain a present space therapist gauging and checking in how you feel now in your life including all your senses and feeling. Authenticity is at the heart of all of this change. When you are your most authentic self, most clients can then begin to change or shift their own stories or ideas they have been told or told themselves.

I adore what I do and I expect myself to also follow the very same actions I promote. Life is messy and obscure, ironic and humorous. You can expect that my own flaws will show in session and transparency on my part is crucial to your own process. You still very much remain the focal point.

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“Making the decision to start going to therapy was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.  It’s helped me determine what I value, and what I stand for, which helps me make much better choices in my life, and it’s taught me to be more forgiving and self-aware.  My life has become significantly better, and immeasurably clearer—through the self-discovery and self-exploration that, I’m certain, could only have been achieved from my time with Aubrey.” -K

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Theory of change

Change has stages just as seasons of our life do therefore there is an ebb and flow to this work. In my sessions I will check in and we will determine what change will look like for you. The question will be “how will you personally know you have shifted”? This looks very different for people. Sometimes it’s a large change and other times a small click of the dial to another degree in your life. Sometimes its looking at change coming and working on how you will manage this. Change is constant so we will reevaluate and adjust as we go along. Leaning into uncertainty is lovely but knowing how you will realize something has moved to another space in you is crucial.

In today’s world, there are many theories on how to change. This shows up on newsstands in magazines, social media, your workplace goals, and relationship conversations. What about therapy?  How will you know you change and what guides me as your therapist in that process?  It can be complicated to explain, but the simple answer here is I tailor what I know and do to who I perceive you to be as you share with me.

We walk along gazing at patterns that seem to show up in your narrative or story, take tools I have learned and try them to switch the dial over just the littlest bit in what might be causing you distress.

Everyone walks into my office with different issues and as clichéd as it might sound, it ultimately will be about the action you are willing to take, the fear you are willing to face, the fortitude or investment you show. I am here to help you see certain type so action or ideas, to vent about what it feels like or how it caused you to cycle in your brain and ruminate, or how it affects your relationships and how you live your life. There is a myriad of ways and tools I can offer up. I am an action motivated therapist with a very optimistic outlook on life even as we all know it can be incredibly challenging. I believe people are changing all the time in one direction or the other, sometimes on multiple tracks. In our work we will try to align where you want to be with action.