Prospective Clients
I have been in private practice since 1991 and have previously worked in medical, rehabilitation, college counseling, and community mental health settings. I know that asking for help is not easy. Trusting someone you don’t know with very personal information requires a leap of faith. Understandably, you may want to know what to expect, should you decide to work with me. Initially, I will work to identify the particular issues that you want to address and then collaborate with you to develop goals and strategies. Throughout the process, I will listen carefully, drawing out particular material for discussion and presenting new information to help you see yourself and your choices with a new perspective. I will suggest possible courses of action, recognizing that only you can decide whether to follow any suggestions that come from the counseling process.
Clients I see often want help with relationship conflicts, family or work problems, anxiety, or depression. Some have experienced abuse or other trauma and are looking to better understand and change how these experiences affect them. Others want help dealing with conditions such as learning disabilities, ADHD, or medical problems.
In addition to seeing clients with a broad range of concerns, I specialize in providing psychotherapy and assessment for health care professionals, and ethics consultation and clinical supervision for mental health professionals.
A significant component of my practice involves providing supervision for psychologists and professional counselors as well as clinical and ethics consultation for a range of mental health professionals.
Consultation
Individuals may seek consultation services when they encounter clinical or ethical challenges in their work; have reached an impasse with a client, patient, student, or supervisee; or when they are facing or have encountered a high-risk clinical situation (for example, high-risk behavior of a client, mandated breaches of confidentiality). In these cases, it may be helpful to carefully consider the situation before proceeding in order to prevent an error or a complaint.
Another situation in which mental health professionals might seek ethics consultation is when they have been accused by an employer, client/patient or their family members, supervisee, student, or licensing board of violating an ethical or legal standard. Thinking through the allegations can be helpful in responding effectively in a way that does not exacerbate the problem and may in fact mitigate it.
Consultation may also take the form of an individualized course designed to remediate a competency or educational deficit that has resulted in a sanction by licensing board, employer, or graduate program. Individualized courses may be focused on professional boundaries, record keeping and documentation, or confidentiality, for example.
Supervision
Supervision is available for those accruing hours for licensure as a psychologist or professional counselor. I also offer remedial supervision such as that which may be required by a licensing board, employer, or graduate program following an ethics complaint or concern about professional competence.
