Addiction Recovery Help · Stress and Anxiety Management · Personal Growth Counseling
Counseling Methods
Strength-based therapy online in Florida. Helping humans learn how to human.
Are you tired of being treated like you’re the sum of your faults?
I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to acknowledge your faults and highlight your strengths at the same time. You can own your struggles and own your strengths.
All of the methods I use have a common theme: They focus on empowering you.
Strength-Based Therapy
Focusing on your strengths can help you feel capable, confident, and well-prepared for anything life throws your way.
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A strength-based perspective looks at what’s been holding you back and supports you in moving forward with dignity instead of pathologizing you. This technique steers away from self-stigma, social stigma, professional stigma, and institutional stigma. A strength-based approach gives you the power to shape your reality.
I will give you strength-based feedback that helps you see your value, brings hope into your life, and shows you that you have more choices than you might think you do. With a variety of strength-based styles of therapy, we will work together to identify the many resources that are available to you - both internally and externally.
I will tap into the personal traits and strategies that have helped you survive adversity in the past and show you how you can use those traits and strategies to boost your belief in your own resilience. You’ll come away from this process with a clear list of your positive traits, and you’ll know exactly how to use those traits to help you in your personal and professional endeavors.
Solution-Focused Therapy
Solution-focused therapy asserts that you are the world's foremost expert on you.
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Solution-focused therapy is grounded in optimism, agency, and clarity of purpose. It shifts attention from problems to solutions and looks at what you want for your future.
Solution-focused work isn't just about me suggesting solutions for you; it's about me asking the questions that increase your awareness of your ability to figure things out yourself. One of my favorite sayings embodies that concept: Give a person a fish and they’ll eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they’ll eat for a lifetime. One of our goals for you in therapy is to make sure you leave therapy with mental health coping skills that will last you a lifetime.
Solution-focused therapy assumes that you have the strength and skills to be your best self. I will help you identify those strengths and show you how to reframe skills that used to hurt you into skills that can help you going forward. For example, did you know that procrastination can be an asset? Or that overthinking can serve you in a positive way? We’re going to turn problems into solutions.
Positive Psychology
Positive psychology will help you decide what makes life worth living for you, and therapy will help you build that life.
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Think of positive psychology as the activation of your psychological immune system. Positive psychology emphasizes flourishing, wellbeing, resilience, and hope. It is a research-supported strength-based approach. Hope theory and choice theory are part of the positive psychology family of modalities, and I incorporate their teachings in my work.
Positive psychology is about finding meaning and satisfaction in life by focusing on what's right with you instead of focusing only on what's wrong with you. We do not discount what you feel is wrong in your life or what feels wrong in your spirit. Instead, we look at the inherent capabilities you have forgotten or may not realize you have. We don't just solve problems or repair damage - we identify your talents and capabilities and build solutions that support your pursuit of joy, self-efficacy, and fulfillment.
With a positive psychology framework, we work on creating the nurturing life that you deserve by recognizing your agency - the amount of personal control you believe you can exert over your life.
There’s some psychoeducation involved. I’ll give you readings, videos, and worksheets to help you explore your values, your abilities, and your wishes for yourself.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
The way you think affects how you feel and how you behave, and you have more control over those processes than you might imagine.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT for short, focuses on problems stemming from your thought and behavior patterns and helps you identify and implement solutions you are willing to use. That’s the key for me - solutions you are willing to use.
Some of the areas we focus on in CBT work include problem solving, cognitive restructuring, communication, setting goals, facing fears, and managing yourself through healthy habits and positive activities.
In exploring the problems that brought you to therapy, I lean full-in on building your confidence and resilience. Even with a modality like CBT in which we examine the patterns that are causing you problems, I approach those patterns from a strength-based perspective. With CBT, we spend some time reviewing the past - not to assign blame or make you feel like crap about yourself, but as a source of information.
Information is power. Information arms you to make decisions that serve you instead of hurting you. Self-awareness gives you the gift of choice, and there’s nothing more empowering than choice.
If you aren’t open to a particular strategy, it’s not going to work for you, and it’s my job to help you find a different one. Sometimes it’s the willingness itself we need to work on first, starting with your self-talk. How we talk to ourselves is a key feature of CBT work.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
You are capable of setting and enforcing boundaries in any situation.
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Dialectical Behavior Therapy, known as DBT, is an evidence-based, skills-based model of therapy. What DBT means is that we learn how to live with dialectics in a way that helps us cope with all the stress and anxiety that we encounter both in our heads and in our environments.
The term dialectics as it is used today originated with Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in the 19th century. Dialectics refers to the presence of opposing forces or constructs. A popular example is that we can love someone and also have powerfully negative feelings toward them. Another example is that we can acknowledge that at any moment, there are things over which we are powerless, but there are also things over which we have power. That juxtaposition in our lives creates a dialectic in our emotional state.
DBT has four modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. All four modules help you cope with stress, anxiety, cravings, obsessions, conflicts, and unanticipated problems.
DBT includes psychoeducation, discussion, and worksheets. Phone coaching is a useful component of DBT in that it reinforces skills practice when you are confronted with real-life situations in which you need to use the skills. As a concierge therapist who schedules remote sessions seven days a week, I can offer that support.
DBT was initially developed to treat borderline personality disorder, self-destructive behavior, and suicidality, but research has shown it to be effective in treating anxiety, stress, low self-esteem, trauma, substance use, and impulse control. If you find yourself wanting to escape from your life, DBT will help you surmount that feeling.
Some of the goals of DBT are to equip you with coping skills, give you more control over your choices, and improve your quality of life. In this way, DBT works in tandem with the other modalities I use.
You may have had a therapist or two tell you, “I accept you where you’re at, but the purpose of therapy is working toward change.” Accept/change, power/powerlessness, distress/calm - these are dialectics, and I’m going to help you learn how to persevere with these conflicts inside you. To that end, we’ll work on self-acceptance and acceptance of others. I know you are doing your best, but I also know that learning new skills and behaviors will help you create a life that you will consider worth living.
DBT is typically delivered in group format in a specific order over two six-month cycles. Because I’m working with you individually, I vary the order of the modules based on what’s useful for you at the time.
If you know what active addiction or borderline personality disorder look like from personal experience, then you know how hard it is to calm your racing thoughts, self-doubts, high-tension emotions, and resentments toward life's inequities. It’s challenging to learn how to balance opposing forces in your head and heart, and it’s challenging to master interpersonal skills when you feel like your emotions are controlling you instead of the other way around. DBT therapy validates your frustrations and helps you see how to manage that balancing act.
Human Agency
Much of the stress we experience in life is driven by fear and lack of control.
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The concept of humans having personal agency refers to our ability to exercise control over our lives - our thoughts, actions, environments, and choices. Agency speaks to the heart of being human, in that choice is the foundation of empowerment.
Personal agency is prominent in hope theory, a member of the positive psychology family of theories. Hope theory asserts that agency is motivated by internal factors. According to hope theory, your belief in yourself grows from success at attempting and reaching your goals. The more your actions lead to the results you want, the more you believe in your capacity to succeed. Research shows that higher hope and belief in our capabilities strengthens our self-esteem, decreases anxiety, lessens chronic pain, increases energy, and leads to a greater sense of well-being.
Here’s how it works. From the time we are born, our agency is shaped by what we observe - first in our environment, and eventually in ourselves. Alfred Badura, the originator of social learning theory, contributed greatly to the field of psychology and the literature on human agency.
According to social learning theory, agency stems from external influences. Because we are social creatures, we learn from watching others. It’s common to hear a person in recovery talk about a mentor or sponsor who helped them. “I listen to what they tell me and I take their suggestions, because I want what they have.” Think for a moment about the people who have what you want: appealing qualities, personal traits, lifestyles, capabilities.
One of the exercises I ask you to do in therapy is to identify your personal heroes - people who model the kind of person you would like to be. Sometimes those heroes are famous people, and sometimes they are people we interact with in our everyday lives. As an example, Fred Rogers (aka Mister Rogers) is one of my heroes because he exemplifies values I find admirable.
Using the models we identify as our heroes motivates us to emulate the qualities we find attractive in others, qualities that lead others to respect and appreciate us for the valuable individuals we are. Practicing those values in your actions gives you control over who you are because it helps you define who you are. In therapy, we will work a lot on values and identity.
As you can imagine, both self and environment play key roles in your sense of personal agency. When you lack control, whether over minor or major issues, you feel trapped. Human agency allows you to develop resilience, self-awareness, and self-efficacy, leading to a greater sense of control over yourself, your relationships, your environment, and your choices.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness practice gives you a level of self-control that cannot be achieved in any other way.
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Mindfulness practice can take many forms in the context of therapy. Mindfulness-based interventions can include talk therapy, health education, relaxation training, and social skills training. Mindfulness practice shows up in the research literature and strategies of most therapeutic methods. It’s that important.
Rest assured, there are myriad ways to practice mindfulness. There are a number of stereotypes associated with mindfulness, but I assure you that there’s more to it than sitting cross-legged, clearing your mind, and humming. MIndfulness can be creative, fun, and rewarding. I believe so strongly in the benefit of mindfulness skills that I promise to make you a fan.
Mindfulness practice has many health benefits. It helps you manage chronic pain, manage weight, and mitigate the risk of heart disease. It may decrease cognitive decline from aging or Alzheimer’s, improve your immune response, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties.
Mindfulness practice also helps you cope with emotional challenges such as anxiety, stress, depression, and anger. Mindfulness practice is holistic in that it improves your mind-body-spirit connection through increased self-awareness and self-control.
Mindfulness practice improves memory and focus, improves sleep, reduces emotional reactivity, decreases loneliness, and helps you control intrusive thoughts. If you’re in recovery from addiction, mindfulness is a fantastic tool for managing obsessions, compulsions, and cravings. In the social arena, mindfulness can improve your relationships at home and at work and enhance your ability to deal with conflicts.
12-Step Facilitation
Because 12-step recovery is a drastic lifestyle change for those who are new to it, it can be helpful to process your thoughts and feelings about it in a safe space like therapy.
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Twelve-Step Facilitation (TSF) is a fancy way of saying that your addictions therapist believes in the efficacy of 12-step programs and encourages you to seek out and participate in the 12-step recovery program of their choice.
Twelve-step programs are an abstinence-based approach to recovery that involves a desire to stop using one’s drug of choice, a willingness to work the twelve steps with a sponsor, and a willingness to participate in a peer-led recovery support community. Studies show that TSF outperforms other treatment methods in maintaining abstinence. As an addictions counselor, I have seen first-hand how TSF helps my clients navigate the 12-step recovery world.
Would it surprise you to learn that there are over thirty 12-step fellowships? As a person in long term recovery, I have participated in several 12-step programs. This experience gives me a frame of reference beyond my clinical training and equips me to answer your questions about how these programs work. Using TSF, I will guide you in learning about the plethora of recovery programs out there so you can choose one that interests and excites you.
In twelve-step recovery, we have a saying, “I’m not going to work harder at your recovery than you do.” That’s something you might hear from a 12-step sponsor. As your therapist, I believe it’s my job to work harder at your recovery than you do, until the point when you have reached your therapeutic goals and are ready to be discharged from therapy. You may wonder then, what is the difference between being your therapist and being your sponsor? There is a key difference. A sponsorship relationship is a personal relationship. And while connection is an important aspect of your relationship with me as your therapist, that relationship is a professional relationship, not a personal one.
Most people become socially isolated in active addiction, and it can be difficult to interact with people once you get sober. It is scary work learning to get vulnerable, learning to trust, and learning to show up as your authentic self. But I’ve been there and done that, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that it is work worth doing.
When using TSF, I’ll provide you with readings, videos, and meeting lists from a variety of 12-step fellowships, to help you learn about your options. I’ll give you worksheets so you can process what you’ve seen and heard at meetings so we can talk about what worked for you and what didn’t.
While I do believe that 12-step programs work, I view them as one tool of recovery - not the only tool. Even if you choose to try a twelve-step program, I urge you to supplement that program with other recovery tools. And if you’re someone who isn’t comfortable with this approach, we will find another one for you. You can expect me to fill and replenish your toolbox with lots of variety.
You can learn more about how I approach addiction recovery therapy on my addiction recovery counseling page.
Power Threat Meaning Framework
When your symptoms are a normal response to an unhealthy environment, you do not need a diagnosis to benefit from therapy.
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The power threat meaning framework (PTMF) was developed by psychiatrists in the United Kingdom. It is a conceptual perspective rather than a clinical model. It represents an approach to therapy that steers away from the traditional medical model that depends heavily on diagnoses.
Instead, the PTMF views mental health issues as threat responses and considers symptoms of mental health issues to be
our reactions to our experiences.
the adaptations we’ve made to survive the things we’ve been through that threatened our sense of self-worth and our understanding of personal power.
We will use the power threat meaning framework to identify areas where you’ve developed coping strategies that have gotten you stuck in behavior or relationships patterns that don’t feel right to you. As a strength-based therapist, I focus on nurturing the qualities that serve you and support your wellbeing. We’ll take the coping strategies you’ve developed and figure out how to use them in healthy ways that provide you with a sense of safety, serenity, and confidence.
If it’s one of your goals to be seen as a person who’s reacted to experiences instead of being seen as a person whose entire being can be encapsulated by a label, then I hear you, and I will support you through the lens of this framework.
You may meet the criteria for a mental health diagnosis and you may not. It’s common for active addiction to mimic the symptoms of a variety of mental health diagnoses such as bipolar disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and impulse control disorders. As your therapist, it is my responsibility to recognize when you meet the criteria for a diagnosis and when you don’t. The power threat meaning framework helps us to look at your symptoms in the context of your environment so we get a full picture.
I am not anti-diagnosis. I am against premature diagnosis or diagnosis for the sake of insurance reimbursement. That’s one of the reasons I’m a private pay practice; insurance companies require an immediate diagnosis to reimburse you for claims. If you’re here, you’ve got issues you’re looking to work on, but that doesn't necessarily mean you’re ill or that there’s something wrong with you. Diagnoses are useful when your symptoms meet the criteria.
A clear diagnosis gives us language for describing what’s going on with you, and that can make it easier for you to communicate your struggles to me and your loved ones . Plus, if you and I agree that you meet the criteria for a particular diagnosis, that knowledge directs us to a large body of reliable, evidenced-based treatments that we know we can count on to help you with your symptoms. But I believe strongly in confirming the presence of a diagnosis before saddling you with a label that will follow your medical records for the rest of your life, and that is why I incorporate this framework into my clinical practice.
I will carefully assess and evaluate your symptoms over time, so we can get a clear and accurate picture of where you are at, compare it to where you want to be, and provide you with the tools to move forward.
Other Models
There is always another way.
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There’s no one right way to do therapy. There’s no one right way to do recovery. There’s no surefire method that’s going to resonate with everyone, so I keep up my education on both established methods and newer techniques.
I find that when my clients are tongue-tied, emotionally overwhelmed, or just plain stuck, it helps to think outside the box and try more creative techniques for making contact with what’s inside you so you can explore it in therapy.
I borrow techniques from other modalities that share common elements with the above approaches, such as Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and motivational interviewing, along with process-based therapies such as Narrative Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping), and expressive arts.
You can expect me to suggest alternative ways to process your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. For example, if you’re not crazy about traditional journaling, I will offer you digital or artistically expressive ways to journal instead. If traditional meditation isn't your jam, I will suggest methods that engage your body as well as your mind.
Empowerment counseling can help you:
Notch up your coping skills and practice on someone who isn’t going to judge you.
Reconnect with the people and the world around you so you don’t feel isolated or cheated.
Gain the tools to take your life in a direction that excites you.
Become the person you’ve always known you were deep down inside.
Go from active addiction to active recovery.
Read More
It is important to me to choose methods that are supported by research. My clients often tell me they spent the weekend falling into this or that rabbit hole to learn more about the theories and methods I’ve mentioned. I get it; that’s my kind of rabbit hole. If you’re in the mood for a deep dive, I’ve provided some of those resources on my references page. Have at it!
