I provide holistic, individual counseling to adults in the Buffalo/Williamsville, NY area who are experiencing grief and loss, pet bereavement, adjustment to a change in life, depression, stress and anxiety.
My Work With You
Your counseling will be matched to you, individually. Together, we will find your strengths and empowerment, as well as practices, techniques and skills to head to greater contentment, peace and life-long change. I will guide you through your struggles and grief, assist you with lessening your symptoms and help you in managing your stressors. You may learn how to break unhealthy patterns, destructive thoughts and become “unstuck”. You are the focus in a non-judgmental, warm, safe, supportive environment.
I believe in a person centered, trauma-informed, holistic approach. What does this mean? Person Centered: first, I see you as a person, not as a disease and not as a number. Your counseling is all about you and your needs. Your plan and goals are centered around you. No cookie-cutter business, here! Trauma Informed: developing trust, safety, support and connection with you are my core counseling values. I will not force you to talk about something you are not ready to talk about. We will be mindful of your triggers and what upsets you. We will work on coping and relaxation skills. Holistic Approach: this means seeing you as a whole person, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We work on self-care and self-love. Together, we will head towards you having greater insight and awareness of your present emotions, feelings and thoughts. In turn, you may learn how to manage difficult emotions as they arise and to tolerate and work through distress, for increased calmness and quality of life. In addition, I take your unique world into account. For example, we may look at your family, partner, friends, support systems, vocation, schooling, gender identity, sexuality, culture and your values. By living in NYC for over 13 years, I have met people from all over the globe with very different views. I am not here to judge, rather to support you in the context of your life.
Our First Session
The first session is an hour and a half intake, in which we get to know each other a little bit better and to find out how we could best work together. We also start to form a plan for our counseling work. For this session, there is also paperwork that is required by law to fill out. The paperwork consists of questions about your reasons for coming in for counseling, what symptoms you are experiencing, what stressors you are having, your medical and mental health background and information about your world (ex. relationship status, work, family, etc.). You will also sign some forms stating you consent to us talking together, about your rights and concerning your Private Health Information (PHI), HIPAA. If you decide we are a good fit, we can schedule another therapy session. Additional therapy sessions are one hour in length.
Please click on the Services/Individual Service tabs above to find out more about each of my specialties: Grief and Loss, Pet Bereavement, Adjustment and Depression and Anxiety. For rates, questions about insurance and other common counseling questions, please click on the FAQs tab.
One more thing: if I am not a good fit for you, I can assist you in finding a therapist who may work well for you or give you information on other clinics to try. For example, drug and alcohol addiction and disordered eating are not in my specialty range, so I would refer you out for you to get the support you need. In fact, the most important thing is that you work with a therapist you are comfortable with and who suits your needs.