Two things that consistently spark joy for me are the ocean and the color blue. I was born and raised in Birmingham and I come from a big, loud, Italian family. While family doesn't always spark joy, I strive to stay healthy so that I can relate to my family better. Family has always been very important to me and that’s why I love systems therapy. So many of our wounds are tied to a relationship (or a lack thereof) and at the same time, healing can only be found in relationships. Sometimes we are afforded an opportunity to heal a relationship and other times we have to find internal healing with the support of other relationships.
Family Systems theory views each individual in the context of their emotional unit or family of origin and describes your family system like living within the same emotional skin. Experiential Therapy is a trauma informed approach that uses expressive tools and activities to re-experience emotional situations from relationships to find healing.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy offers tools for coping and distress tolerance. Additionally, I served 4 years in a treatment center for Substance Use Disorders as the family therapist where I received CRAFT training and Recovery Mind Training. Each of these therapeutic approaches can be applied to individual counseling or relationship counseling.