My Training and Approach
During college, I worked in the reference section of the New York University Library, and there were plenty of Carl Rogers books to read. He was a beacon for Humanistic Psychology, and that resonated deeply with me. I began professional life as a special education teacher. I worked with students with multiple and severe disabilities, and we were fortunate to have a consultant come in and work with us to figure out tough cases. This led me ultimately to the field of psychology, training at Fordham University in School Psychology in their doctoral program. I interned at King's County Hospital and Downstate Hospital in the heart of East Flatbush, led groups for mothers with children who were born with disabilities, worked in Family Therapy, saw ALL kinds of clients... And I stayed in East Flatbush at Downstate for several years, working with mothers and their infants and toddlers. Eventually, I made my way to Bridgeport, Connecticut and worked at Central High School, again, to a great degree in the area of grief and trauma as well as LGBTQ groups. Later I made my way to the Cheshire Public Schools, and specialized there for 18 years in working with students and their families where students with significant emotional needs were in need of services. As my own children grew, I was "gifted" a small amount of clients by a dear friend from her own private practice. From there, my practice grew, and I left the Cheshire Public Schools to work in private practice full-time.
I have trained extensively in how to transmit Mindfulness into ways that people can find helpful. I use these strategies informally in how I work with clients. Many of my clients don't ever do sustained meditation, but they all experience within session what it is like to slow down, feel feelings in the body, and understand how the past is impacting the present. I attend Retreat regularly as a way of continuing my own ability to hold what is difficult for myself and my clients. I am always learning one thing or another, whether it's trauma-informed techniques like Somatics and Internal Family Systems approaches, EMDR, Shamanic Journeying, and of course, how to helpfully bring in mindfulness into the therapy hour. In 2017 I completed the bulk of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training, and I'm qualified to teach this approach. During 2019-2020, I studied at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Cambridge, MA. I've completed Foundations of Depth Hypnosis Training with Isa Gucciardi, and most recently I completed the Basic EMDR training and continue to participate in EMDR continuing education and consultative guidance.
Below are LINKS to help you understand the various approaches beyond mindfulness, that I pull from:
Internal Family Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZZ7sTX840
Depth Hypnosis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n5Gey18s4c
EMDR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkfln-ZtWeY
I have trained extensively in how to transmit Mindfulness into ways that people can find helpful. I use these strategies informally in how I work with clients. Many of my clients don't ever do sustained meditation, but they all experience within session what it is like to slow down, feel feelings in the body, and understand how the past is impacting the present. I attend Retreat regularly as a way of continuing my own ability to hold what is difficult for myself and my clients. I am always learning one thing or another, whether it's trauma-informed techniques like Somatics and Internal Family Systems approaches, EMDR, Shamanic Journeying, and of course, how to helpfully bring in mindfulness into the therapy hour. In 2017 I completed the bulk of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training, and I'm qualified to teach this approach. During 2019-2020, I studied at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Cambridge, MA. I've completed Foundations of Depth Hypnosis Training with Isa Gucciardi, and most recently I completed the Basic EMDR training and continue to participate in EMDR continuing education and consultative guidance.
Below are LINKS to help you understand the various approaches beyond mindfulness, that I pull from:
Internal Family Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZZ7sTX840
Depth Hypnosis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n5Gey18s4c
EMDR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkfln-ZtWeY