Client Focus

  • I see Teens (12+), Adults, Couples and Families as part of my practice

  • My primary specialties are:

    • LGBTQ Support (Individual Therapy for LGBTQ Adults and Teens, Couple's Therapy for LGBTQ Couple's, and Gender Affirming Care including Provider Confirmation of Care Letters for Transgender Clients)

    • Sex & Couple's Therapy (Sex Positive, Kink Positive, Currently pursuing certification in sex therapy)

    • Major Life Transitions (Primary/Middle to High School, High School to College, First Serious Relationship, Engagement, Marriage, Divorce, Loss of a Parent, Pregnancy, First Child, Integrating Children through Marriage/Adoption, Integrating Children through Childbirth, Empty Nest, Retirement)

    • Alcohol, Drug, and other Process Addiction Rehabilitation (Internet/Phone Addiction, Pornography Addiction, Attraction to the Illegal or Unethical)

    • Sexual Offender Rehabilitation (Limited to non-violent clients)

Treatment Modality

My primary modality of treatment with my client is the application of Positive Psychological Principles to enhance and emphasize the best parts of the patient's life. 

Positive Psychology is a branch of psychology that is focused on character strengths and behaviors that allow individuals to build a life of meaning and purpose (Psychology Today Staff, 2024). 

The Essentials of Positive Psychology

  • Emphasis is on deep meaning and satisfaction as opposed to fleeting happiness. 

  • Developed by Martin Seligman, positive psychology espouses the main tenants of positive living which includes positive emotions, "flow states", and sense of purpose. 

  • In the premier positive psychological textbook written in 2004, "Characters Strengths and Virtues," positive psychologists proposed cataloging character strengths and virtues under the six categories of Wisdom, Courage, Humanity, Justice, Temperance, and Transcendence. *

Key Concepts

  • Purpose and meaning- many measures of meaning have been found to relate to positive life outcomes and studies have corroborated the correlation between understanding of one's purpose and their overall mental health. 

  • Flow- coined by M. Csikszentmihalyi it describes a highly beneficial state of immersion into an activity or event to the exclusion of all other stimuli. *

  • PERMAH Model - Developed by Seligman, PERMA stands for Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments, and Health. This is the six building blocks of resilience and wellbeing identified (Chong, 2023)

  • Strengths and Virtues - the identified parts of each person individually which are used to live an engaging and meaningful life. 

  • Grit and Gratitude - Grit is defined as the passion and perseverance towards one's long-term goals and gratitude is defined the expression of appreciation which in turn releases positive neurochemicals in our brain.**

Benefits and Critique of Positive Psychology

  • Benefits include overall lifting and higher quality of relationship with positive experiences and emotions. The field also continues to research and explore with how developing strengths, gratitude, and other flow activities add to a more quality life.

  • Critiques center mainly around the concern that the emphasis on positivity ignores "essential negative" experiences and emotions. Additional concerns shared is that the concept of character strength cannot account for redescribing the human experience. 

*PsychologyToday Staff. (2024). Positive psychology. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/positive-psychology

**Chong, J. (2023, June 14). Positive psychology: 5 key concepts (and how journalling can help with intentional practice). The Skill Collective. https://theskillcollective.com/blog/positive-psychology-concepts