Therapist

Hi, my name is Carmen and I'm a licensed clinical social worker who works with teens and adults who are experiencing difficulties in life like trauma, anxiety, and depression. Therapy can be a big step in your mental health journey, so it's important that you feel safe when you take it. 

I personally know the long-term, disruptive effects of trauma and the peace that therapy can help achieve. Because of this, I'm committed to facilitating your growth and helping you see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can help by creating a space where you can be yourself and share your stories without fear of judgment. I will listen to you intently, and together, we will find the approach best suited for you. This will help you heal in your own way, at your own pace.

I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Radically Open DBT RO-DBT). All of these modalities can help with trauma, anxiety, and depression. EMDR helps you cope with adverse life experiences by addressing the root of the problem. The root can be a traumatic event from childhood or even more recent years. EMDR uses eye movements to process one event at a time. My role is to facilitate that by helping you stay focused, reminding you that you are in a safe place, and helping you talk through your thoughts and emotions. I have been a DBT therapist since 2017. DBT helps clients to learn skills for when trauma triggers and/or intense emotions come up, and instead of using the maladaptive skills that are familiar, you can use skills that will help you in the long-term to live a life that feels better. DBT also helps clients to see how their emotions and thoughts are connected to their behaviors, and how to use skills at different points in life to help change behaviors and feel better.

I say to my clients that I feel honored to be a part of their journey, whatever that looks like. I tell them that I come up alongside them, wherever they are in their journey, I gather information, ask them what they see for themselves, and I try to help them get there.

I also tell my clients that I have done my own work with EMDR, and work on the DBT skills often. I'm not asking my clients to do something that I haven't done before. I try to create a space where clients can be themselves and feel safe to share their worries, feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and traumas with me. I take a person-centered approach to therapy that offers structure, yet flexibility. I encourage clients to offer feedback and their experiences with therapy, so if we need to make any changes, we can.

You can expect me to know different pop culture references and random trivia. I love metaphors and will try to make any situation into one. I can be silly, awkward, and cheesy at times. You will get to see my authentic self, and that's my goal to help clients be able to be comfortable with their own authentic self.