Therapy With Brad
The Roots of Therapy
Decades of research yields consistent evidence that the strength of the therapeutic alliance (the bond you share with your therapist) is linked to the success of treatment. In fact, the relationship you form with your therapist may contribute more to your success in therapy than the type for treatment you receive. We might also view the therapeutic relationship as a powerful tool to wield for your own growth. At its most basic level, the therapeutic relationship is the container within which all healing occurs. It is the roots of therapy.
This makes it clear why choosing a therapist and building a relationship is an important part of therapy. With that said, I want to stress that it is a process. It takes time, requires vulnerability, and it might require you to push through fear of the unknown, fear of healing, or even fear what I represent to you. The opportunity to push through your specific fears, even if they are about me, can be viewed an opportunity to start healing in a powerful way.
I feel honored each time someone even considers stepping into this healing container with me, and I don't take it for granted.
Therapy Style
Therapy with me prioritizes building, growing, and maintaining the therapeutic relationship. We achieve this through an approach that is:
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feminist
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trauma informed
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culturally humble
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highly collaborative
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evidence based
Relationship building is at the heart my approach because I believe that a tremendous amount of healing and growth occurs through vulnerable human connection. The relationship we form in therapy will offer you a safe, nonjudgmental container within which you can process feelings and let your thoughts flow by like leaves on a stream. Whatever work we find ourselves doing together will be a collaborative process that is rooted in our relationship.
I take from various therapy techniques and custom tailor treatment to your needs. We work together as co-explorers, navigating your inner world, learning about your patterns, and doing everything side-by-side. You will never be left alone. We will set goals together, we will make adjustments together, and we will laugh together (this is an essential skill to develop!). I can be directive or sit back and let you process if that is what’s best for you. My goal is to see you as you are, wherever you are. What you will always get from me is empathy, authenticity, honesty, and humor.
Wherever we go in therapy, we go together.
Therapy Values
What guides me as a therapist
acceptance
I can't predict what life or therapy will bring. I work alongside clients to gently accept whatever comes our way and work with it as a gift.
humility
I don't know everything, and I will admit when I don't know about your lived experience. I approach each session as an opportunity to learn something from you through open hearted curiosity.
humor
Laughter is a bridge to acceptance
and is a spark for resilience. Humor is therapeutic, and we will inject it into our work with intention.
intention
It is easy to move through life distracted and disconnected from what is in front of us and from our values. I strive to engage with all aspects of your treatment and you with mindful intention and thoughtfulness.
Therapy Techniques
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Fighting against our thoughts and feelings is exhausting. With ACT, we learn to drop the fight and instead accept all thoughts and feelings as they are so that we may feel everything more effectively. This is done by developing a more compassionate relationship with our inner world and committing to behavioral change. This approach prioritizes changing behaviors in order to become the person we desire to be. The result is moving through the world with more flexibility and increase connection with our values, which is what helps us thrive.
Radically Open Dialectic Behavioral Therapy
Self-control is, more often than not, celebrated and seen as essential to achieving happiness and success. However, too much self-control can lead to problems such as social isolation, deteriorating relationships, anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, and more. With RO-DBT, we learn to reconnect with our tribe by prioritizing social signaling. Skills classes with individual therapy help us learn to respond to novel situations with flexibility and openness. I am level three trained (+70 hours) in RO-DBT to help guide you through this therapy.
OTHER TEchniques
In addition to ACT and RO-DBT, I draw from Relational Cultural Therapy (RCT), Feminist Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma, and elements of Existential Therapy. I also work a lot with with present moment awareness, body based interventions (bottom up processing), and theories of human development to inform treatment. No matter what we decide to do, we will decide together and create a plan that is unique to your needs.