My Style and Philosophy

Why do we have supervision?  Supervision is all about learning the ins and outs of the real world of mental health counseling so that you can be a confident independent clinician that practices within the bounds of laws and ethics. Finding a supervisor that has experience in your career goals, shares your counseling philosophies, and has experience with your preferred therapeutic style is helpful, and if you are still unsure about both of those things, finding a supervisor that has a wealth of experience will be helpful for determining your professional goals and acquiring the skills you need to achieve them.  

Supervision can and should be an exciting time full of personal and professional growth!  My philosophy regarding supervision is that it is a safe place for you to ask questions, learn, make mistakes, and find your confidence as a professional.  Supervision is an open space to thoughtfully unload and process through some of your own cases and better understand yourself as a counselor.

As a supervisor, I will teach you how to effectively use therapeutic approaches and how to legally and ethically solve common as well as rare issues that can come up in the therapeutic relationship and counseling process.  I will also collaborate with you to find your own unique therapeutic approach, as long as it coincides with our ethical code for the therapeutic process and outcome.  This means that I will take a directive and analytical role while maintaining elements of reflection and thoughtful exploration for the development of responsible decision making.  I will provide substantial encouragement and constructive feedback and will capitalize on your strengths to help you find your confidence as a therapist.  Together we will tune into the thoughts and feelings involved with the therapeutic process and we will practice therapeutic techniques together to understand the full experience of therapy from all sides.

My Field Experience

I am a licensed mental health counselor, a board certified behavior analyst, and a certified rehabilitation counselor.  I am also a certified yoga and meditation instructor and this does impact my counseling practice.  I have my own entirely online based private practice in which I treat adults of all ages, specializing in anxiety disorders and agoraphobia.  My therapeutic approach is primarily based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, with strong components in mindfulness, solution focused strategy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.  While working with me, I can specifically guide you in mastering therapeutic strategies along these approaches, as well as provide you the groundwork you need to start your own private practice and learn the specifics of online work.

My specific experience involves working for a large not for profit community mental health agency as both a mental health therapist and intensive case manager, supervising and directing a residential co-occurring disorders treatment facility, counseling individuals with chronic pain in a hospital pain clinic, working as a contract primary therapist for online based counseling platforms, and developing my own online based private practice. I have experience with severe and persistent mental illness, addictions, mood disorder, autism spectrum, behavioral disorders, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, personality disorders, eating disorder, acute psychosis, dementia, chronic pain, medical disability and chronic conditions, grief and loss, relationship problems, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and life changes.  I am familiar with medicaid and medicare, individual therapy, treatment planning and documentation, burn out prevention and remediation, case management, vocational rehabilitation, substance abuse counseling, the baker act and marchman act, hospital protocols, abuse reporting, and malpractice reporting.  

Scheduling & other Details

I provide supervision through a secure online platform (Simple Practice), however we will be required to meet at least once in person prior to starting formal supervision together.  Unfortunately, the current laws regarding supervision in Florida do not allow supervision to be online based for any more than 50% of your supervision sessions.  Registered interns are able to work with more than one approved supervisor, so it would be necessary for you to have another qualified supervisor to see in person for the remaining 50% of your sessions.  Since I am a licensed mental health counselor, I can only supervise registered mental health counseling interns, not marriage and family or social work interns.  If you have any further questions or are interested in doing supervision together, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Supervision for BCBA's

If you are preparing for the BCBA examination and are seeking to use your credential in the field of Mental Health, I am comfortable to provide you online based supervision. I have taken the required coursework to provide supervision to BCBA candidates. If you are interested in supervision in the areas of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), please reach out to me here and we can discuss.  I do not have experience treating developmental disorders with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), but I do have experience using ABA principles and strategies for the treatment of severe and persistent mental illness, some with cooccurring developmental disorder, in a community mental health treatment center.