Therapy Services

Individual Therapy:

I provide individual therapy for adolescents and adults. I specialize in working with clients who struggle with the following:

Some common goals I help clients achieve are to improve interpersonal skills, feel more confident, set goals more effectively, be more action-oriented, and better understand and communicate their emotional experiences. Together we can view your problems with new perspectives, set goals, and lead a fulfilling life.

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Group Therapy:

Group therapy is a form of therapy in which a group of patients meet to describe and discuss their problems together under the supervision of a therapist. At Strength-Based Counseling we offer a safe setting where each group member can share personal experiences and feelings while receiving feedback and support. Check our events page for specialized groups.

This will be a in person, skill building, open group.

Mission for Groups:

People often ask, “How did this begin?” and “Who is this group for?”

I’ve spent nearly 20 years working with adolescents and young adults dealing with anxiety, depression, screen addiction, and, in some cases, self-harm. Over time, I also heard from a growing number of parents who felt shut out of their children’s lives, describing teens who wouldn’t talk, responded with anger or short answers, or seemed emotionally distant. Families were left feeling confused and disconnected.

In my clinical work, I started focusing on something basic: sleep, exercise, nutrition, and in-person connection. A pattern showed up quickly. Many of these young people didn’t have in-person friendships. Their social world often existed entirely online, sometimes through gaming or digital communities spread across the world.

As I explored this further in sessions, I began teaching foundational social skills that many of them had never had the chance to develop. Over time, it became clear that what looked like defiance, withdrawal, or indifference was often a lack of relational skills and real-world social experience, not intentional resistance.

Many teens would come in with limited eye contact, minimal speech, and a flat or distant affect. This wasn’t rare. It was becoming increasingly common, and something many other professionals were also noticing.

Parents would often say, “I don’t know my child anymore. They won’t talk to me.” And the more I worked with these families, the clearer it became that many young people weren’t choosing to disconnect. They simply hadn’t developed the skills or confidence to connect in the first place.

Earlier generations built these skills naturally through constant in-person interaction, playing outside, navigating friendships, conflict, boredom, and social risk. Those daily repetitions helped develop comfort in conversations, relationships, and real-world settings.

This work began with a 16-year-old who had been labeled non-compliant, disrespectful, and a “problem.” He came into my office shut down and disengaged, expecting another failed attempt at help. I asked if he would be open to learning some skills that could help him in everyday life. He agreed. I walked him through a social skills curriculum I developed, starting with foundational skills and building up to what would be developmentally appropriate for teens. We practiced through role-play based on situations he found difficult.

Over time, he went from having no friends to being included in a peer group, reconnecting with his family, and engaging more at school. What became clear is that many of these young people are not “bad kids.” They are unskilled and haven’t had enough opportunity to practice these interactions. When someone cannot express what they are feeling, isolation, anger, or withdrawal often become the only ways they know how to cope.

The question I often ask parents is: where would your children have actually learned these skills?

The scope of the issue is significant. The CDC reports:

• 40% of high school students report persistent sadness or hopelessness
• 34% were bullied in the past year
• 42% report a lack of emotional support
• 1 in 5 experience clinically significant anxiety
• 8 to 10% experience clinical depression
• 20% have considered suicide in the past year
• 16% have made a suicide plan
• 9% have attempted suicide

In daily life, this often shows up as isolation, anger, heavy screen use, few or no in-person friendships, lack of extracurricular involvement, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, depression, substance use or gambling, dropping out of school, and difficulty expressing emotions.

Many teens report that even after learning these skills, they struggle to find places to practice them. They feel labeled by peers or environments that don’t allow room for change. These groups were created to address that gap, to give teens a place to step out of isolation, meet new people, build friendships, and get repeated practice using the skills they’re learning in real social settings.