3 Fun Facts…
1) I view DBT skills as necessary life skills, and I need to admit, I think EVERYONE should have access to learning them in elementary school. Most DBT therapists practice what they teach. I’m no exception. To prove this I’m sharing my most often used skills (and my personal favorites):
ACCEPTS Skill: Activity- going on roller coasters;
ACCEPTS Skill: Activity and Sensations- singing at the top of my lungs in my car to Queen;
ACCEPTS Skill: Emotion- my 5 change-your-emotion movies:
1.Wicked or Bohemian Rhapsody (tied)
2. Dr. Strange (or any other Marvel Movie)
3. Love Actually
4.
Pitch Perfect (any)
5. You’ve Got Mail
2) I’m an LGBTQ+ advocate, and our sessions space is a safe zone of acceptance and support. My daughter initiated one of the first Gay Straight Alliances in Osceola County, and we advocated as a family to make it happen. It was a proud Momma moment.
3) I have a fur baby, Daisy, a Shepherd Pitbull mix. She's learning skills herself and loves to be around people, so much so that she has to be in my office during sessions. If we work together, you might hear her at times voicing her opinions about Radical Acceptance.
Why Work With Me…
In many cases, I’ve been where you are right now. The road to healing isn’t a perfect path, and at times can be two steps forward, one step back. While this can feel difficult, I know firsthand how worthwhile the journey is. I’ve had the joy of experiencing self-injury abstinence anniversaries with clients. I’ve witnessed numerous clients climb out of what they described as “Emotional Hell” by them working the skills, and creating the internal connections that brought them significant change to where they now have stable relationships, fulfilling careers, and balanced lives. For some, they have made such progress that they no longer meet the clinical criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder. The common factor for all of them is each put a great deal of hard, uncomfortable work into achieving their success. The most common self-reflecting thought I hear from clients is, “It was so worth it.”
The people I work with usually come to me with severe, overwhelming, sometimes frightening diagnoses and behaviors. I understand the importance of getting the right treatment to begin moving toward creating stability in your life. I also appreciate the importance of creating balance. I treat safety as the highest priority, and because of this it is possible to create a good balance between our (mine and your) responsibilities in treatment, and creating a space where therapy and learning skills can be enjoyable.
We have the belief in DBT that we are all doing the best we can in each moment. Our overall DBT goal for each person we work with is for you to create a life that is worth living.
So please do this with me now. Take a deep breath, close your eyes (if you’d like), and allow yourself a moment to imagine what having a life worth living would look like for you...How would that feel for you to accomplish it? Even if right now you don’t feel like it’s possible to reach, isn’t it time to give yourself the opportunity to find out? You deserve to feel better, and you don’t have to figure it out on your own. You don’t have to suffer with your pain alone. Reach out now so we can begin your journey to healing together.