We offer services such as Psychotherapy, Group therapy, and Support for Parents of Children with Special Needs
Psychotherapy, commonly referred to as therapy or counseling, is a process designed to help you identify new ways of thinking and behaving to enhance your quality of life and resolve or mitigate self-defeating behaviors, beliefs or emotions. Through developing a trusting relationship we can explore the roots of issues which are interfering with your inner peace and intimate relationships.
I often work in metaphor. It makes new and difficult concepts easier to grasp. Understanding who we are and why we experience the world the way we do, is challenging.
I hope the following gives you some insight into how I think and work.
Our journey begins before we are even born. We are subject to the feelings, behavior and environment of our mother. In our earliest years we learn what feelings look, sound and feel like. Even before we have language we are taking in the world around us. We are experiencing love, affection, anger, acceptance and rejection.
Our life journey has begun.
As we progress we will trip, stumble and even fall over obstacles in our path. Some will be of our own making. Some will not. Either way we will have injuries. How we cope with these falls and obstacles makes us who we are. As we travel we sometimes carry the stones and branches that have blocked our path with us. When our burdens become too heavy or the path forward is blocked and unclear we need to find a cairn.
Have you or someone you love ever received a mental health diagnosis?
You should know, I’m not a fan of diagnoses or labels.
They are necessary in some circumstances. They can be helpful as shorthand both professionally and in society. However, they are either too loose or too rigid, often overlapping and fairly inaccurate. They don’t capture the complexity – the mix of challenges and strengths that you make up who you are.
The DSM or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is the tool mental health professionals use to diagnose mental disorders. The current version is the DSM 5.
Of course you’ll always put your child first, but what about you? What do you do when you run out of steam… when you just don’t know how to take much more. I can help you manage your feelings, assuage some of the fear and find the sweet spots of raising your child that sometimes elude you.
From first diagnosis to launching your child into adulthood, having an exceptional child brings unique challenges and complex, ambivalent feelings. Often parents struggle with unimaginable levels of stress, loneliness, grief, guilt and fear. The process is a perpetual host of issues that require ongoing, complex life management for you and your child.
When you feel better your child gets more of the attention, love and support they need to enhance the special life they’ve been given. You will both begin to experience more love and joy in each other and in your lives!
Pat is available to provide inservice education about many challenging conditions including anxiety, depression and substance abuse. She will also speak to professionals, educators or groups who are part of the lives of children with special needs.
As the proud parent of a young man with special needs, I am passionate about supporting this under-served population.
My personal story of raising a son with autism, working in special education and my professional experience merge into a dynamic talk that empowers families and professionals assisting those families. I seek to transform the often challenging emotions that can arise when caring for those with special needs so they can help the child have the most fulfilling, independent life they can.
Held virtually on Thursdays at 7pm, contact us for availability.
Pat prefers that any fees be donated to nonPareil, a non-profit program dedicated to serving the spectrum population by teaching them gaming software development.
To schedule your first appointment or complementary call, click the link below, give a little information about yourself and we'll be in contact in 24-48 hours!
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