I focus on developing a safe, respectful therapeutic relationship and my approach to therapy is collaborative. Each client is different and I have seen success in both short term and long term therapy. I generally begin with helping a client to meet their immediate goals and then, having strengthened their skills, use that momentum to assist in making the larger, systemic changes that will allow for long lasting results.

Options is a not-for-profit agency providing services in eleven Oregon counties and I was a Child and Family Therapist on their Oregon Health Plan contract. ~My caseload consisted primarily of children and their families, but I did see a handful of adults. (My average age range of clients was 3 years old to 70 years old.) ~I conducted individual therapy sessions as well as family therapy sessions.~I led a cycling 6-week psychoeducational group for parents and caregivers of children with ADHD. ~In addition, I attended IEP meetings, New Solutions Wrap Team meetings, and Level of Care Committee meetings for my clients. This allowed me ample opportunities to work on multidisciplinary teams that included: parents, staff, clients, school representatives, case workers, and the justice system. ~I administered psychological tests and conducted assessments which included cognitive, achievement, personality, and projective measures. ~My clientele represented a diverse population of varying ethnicities, racial identifications, sexual orientation, gender identification, and socioeconomic status. ~One week every three months, I was the clinician on call for our after-hours crisis phone line. ~Within Options, I was the only clinician chosen to contract to provide services to a local Head Start program that included observations, evaluations, reports, and coordinating treatment with parents and teachers. ~In addition to my in-office clients, I also spent part of a workday seeing rural clients in the community of Stayton at a satelite office at Santiam Hospital.

As an intern, I was responsible for similar tasks that a fully licensed psychologist would be. ~I conducted individual, group, and family therapy with persons aged 3 to 48 years-old. ~I also conducted psychological assessments of children and adolescents: personality, projective, syndrome- specific, and cognitive. ~I led numerous groups, both within the schools and outside of them. ~My clientele represented a diverse population of Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, and Native American persons of varying sexual orientations as well as different levels of socioeconomic status.~I worked on multidisciplinary teams that included: parents, staff, clients, school representatives, case workers, and the justice system. ~I also spent one day a week on the Crisis Team triaging, assessing, and providing counseling for critical clients at Linn County Mental Health, in nearby hospitals and detention centers, and over the phone.~I was afforded the opportunities to attend numerous trainings and in-services, collaborate in team meetings with other staff members twice a month, and on a weekly basis I also participated in at least two hours of individual supervision, an hour of group supervision, and an hour long didactic presentation. ~In addition, I was assigned to presenting a civil commitment case to a judge and successfully completed this.

The Rural School District Consortium consists of three school districts, in separate towns, and with different community-based needs. ~I provided counseling and assessment for children in elementary school through high school. ~I supervised five practicum students, arranged for training sessions and meetings within the Rural School District Consortium, and acted as a consulting psychologist for staff and on-site personnel. ~And in order to ensure smooth operations, I developed a program that put protocol procedures for each school into place.