Therapy is not a simple conversation. It is an intentional relationship designed to nurture real, lasting and organic change. As a Licensed Marital and Family Therapist serving Kansas City, I ground my practice in these core pillars.
- Respecting the clinical frame. Predictability is a key ingredient of trust. If therapy is to become what the client needs, trust must be developed. Holding regular standing appointments, starting and ending on time, keeping clearly established professional boundaries aren't just good ideas. They are essential aspects of individual, couples or family therapy. When the frame or structure is secure, we can focus on deep and lasting change.
- Respecting your voice and inner wisdom. A therapist isn't someone who tries to fix or hand out advice. We provide relational space where your own insight can surface. I think of myself as my clients hired hand. You will do most of the talking. I am listening in a different way. It's taken a long time to be able to hear as much as I do as a therapist. I don't keep my insights to myself, either. I share them for my clients to riff off of or to disagree with. In this process, you take the lead and we collaborate about what we're learning together.
- Starting with a free consultation. Therapy is a significant investment of your time, energy and resources. The way I approach a consultation has a few goals. What's been going on that's bringing you to therapy? Why now? And what would make therapy successful? By slowing down and doing this, it gives us a chance in the future to remember what our goals are when we find that therapy is stuck. It also can happen that in the course of a consultation we discover that TherapyKC isn't a great fit for your needs. In that case, I am glad to refer out to trusted people and resources within the Kansas City mental health professionals community.
If you have any questions, contact me here.
