"Most wounding happens within or because of relationships - but so does most healing."-SLC
Depression
Relationship and Communication issues
Grief and loss
Trauma and PTSD
Stress and Anxiety
What you can expect at SLC:
What is therapy?
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It is a time of naming, noticing and listening to what your body, heart and mind are trying to tell you!
It is a safe place. You will never be forced to go somewhere you don't want to go, and anywhere we do explore, we will do it gently and sensitively, together
It is a time of reflecting, realizing that we are full of unprocessed emotions and experiences that, upon closer look, will help us realize a lot about ourselves today!
Things Monica encourages for clients during tele-therapy:
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Have a fidget object nearby - something that you can externalize anxiety, fear or worry into while talking can be a non-shaming way to increase awareness around what the vulnerable parts of you need, as well as to provide an intentional, playful way to address anxiety
Bring a journal or notepad to write things down that stand out to you during session. It is important for me that my clients feel permission to process as much as they want both in and outside of sessions. Taking notes is a great w
Feel permission to avert your eyes from the screen at any time during treatment. Processing is a visceral experience. Your eyes might need to shift, you might need to look down, you might need to look up or away. There is no pressure to fix your eyes on the screen or counselor to be doing counseling "right". Some cultures say that to avert your eyes is a sign of weakness. In others, to stare or gaze intently is seen as disrespectful. In therapy, I invite you to take off any cultural expectations you or others might have of your eye contact and to find what feels comfortable for you. Find out where your eyes need to go for your processing and let them.
Email Monica at any time, (or speak to her during your session) about any instances in which you don't feel heard or respected. You have permission to state your needs clearly and express how you feel. Monica will be happy to talk with you about your experiences, needs, and expectations of treatment!
Treatment Interventions:
The type of interventions your counselor uses for your journey is very important. Therapy interventions are meant to custom-fit symptoms/diagnosis. Your counselor should be utilizing methods that are designed to help with your specific needs!
I use a combination of top-down modalities (cerebral, talk therapy, cognitive, conscious work) as well as bottom-up modalities (unconscious, limbic, physcho-somatic, body-focused). I really enjoy working with clients on communication, grief, self-awareness, (about ones story and unmet needs) integration of selves, and emotion regulation. I am most familiar and comfortable with using Relational Psychotherapy, EFIT, Attachment Theory, CBT, Motivational Interviewing, and LI in sessions, but I continue to develop my expertise so I can best help clients who are working through childhood trauma, grief,relationship issues, and self-worth issues.
In 2021 I received transformational training in the area of Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) and Lifespan Integration (LI). I use both regularly with clients as I find them to be very effective and have seen many clients respond incredibly well. EFIT helps clients become deeply attuned to the correlations between their emotions and triggers while LI helps integrate experiences by addressing unconscious physiological cues. I truly love these interventions and see myself using them often in treatment with clients.
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To learn more about how each type of therapy intervention I use will benefit your treatment, read below!:
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Relational Psychodynamic Psychotherapy - Changing thinking patterns, improving self awareness and insight into unconscious thoughts and feelings which are rooted in past relationships, exploring, clarifying, giving directives, problem solving together, accepting, understanding, explaining, and resolving unconscious and conscious contributions
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Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFST) - Learn how to develop a healthy relationship with yourself and the various competing internal roles at play (firefighter, exile, manager and self) and how to listen to them
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Attachment-based therapy - Exploration of Relationship Patterns and family of origin (also heavily integrated into EFIT)
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Emotion-Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)- Creating a safe haven and a secure base alliance, core models of health and dysfunction from an attachment perspective (such as how cycles interact and block growth and adaptation, how we respond to our triggers, and how to stay with present processes in session to improve emotion regulation and awareness).
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Lifespan Integration - A somatic, (not talk therapy) modality effective in integrating the mind and body to heal from trauma and organize experiences into linear, cohesive memories.
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Narrative Therapy - Organizing and maintaining our reality through stories and narratives, externalizing, reducing shame, creating perspective.
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Depth psychology- Converting insight into action, moving towards connection, clarified thinking through interpretation, role-playing, narration, encouragement, insight, change, challenging, and meta-therapy
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – Cognitive restructuring (challenging, reframing, refocusing), psychoed, cognitive coping skills, emotional expression, relaxation, gradual exposure and processing, rational disputation
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Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) – Achieve acceptance and balanced thinking through practicing interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and mindfulness
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Mindfulness-Based Therapy – Guided imagery, body scan, deep breathing, grounding,
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Motivational Interviewing (MI)- Open-ended questions, affirmations, reflective dialogue, summarizing
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Socratic questioning - Clarifying thinking, challenging assumptions, using evidence in arguments, exploring alternative perspectives, considering the consequences, questioning the question.
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Interpersonal therapy - Solving relational problems causing depression​
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Emotion-focused Therapy for couples (EFT)- cycle de-escalation, changing interaction patterns and consolidation and integration (I am excited to be attending a 4 day training on this very specific modality this summer!)