What has remained consistent over my decades in the mental health field is my enthusiasm, curiosity, persistence, and desire to help.

I bring kindness, pragmatism, creativity, and a solid base of experience to my teaching and consultation. My approach is strategic and relational. I have had training in a variety of modalities and clinical approaches. My work with many types of clients in a broad range of settings enhances the flexibility with which I can adapt my consultation and teaching. 

The clinical orientation that I most align with is the utilization approach. Milton H. Erickson, M.D. pioneered this approach, which some people call Ericksonian Therapy. What was so revolutionary about his approach was the manner in which it switched the focus away from diagnosing pathology in people and prescriptively telling them how to get better. Instead, he designed a new approach to fit each client. The content of the clinical session and the solutions to the client’s challenges and goals relied heavily on bringing out and then using their interests, strengths and resources. Over the years, the art and science of the utilization approach have evolved as clinicians and researchers have contributed new findings. Today this collaborative, pragmatic, individualized, client-centered approach continues to thrive. The most complex aspects of the utilization approach involve melding clinical wisdom about how to target interventions with awareness of and responsiveness to many types of feedback from clients. I especially appreciate the idea that a clinician can be of most service when they understand what the client wants to accomplish and have a detailed plan for how to help them create that in their lives. Whether or not more formalized clinical hypnosis is utilized, I advocate for creating experiential processes to enhance learning. 

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., who has used and taught the utilization approach worldwide, is the teacher who has had the most influence on how I think about and plan my clinical work. Dr. Yapko’s explanations of process-oriented hypnosis and discrimination strategies as well as his self-help books, Claria app, and other resources for the general public are excellent examples of how to create experiences that help people make better decisions and lead more fulfilling lives. https://yapko.com

To help you get a sense of my style, I have provided a pre-publication version of a chapter that I wrote for The International Handbook of Clinical Hypnosis. “ How to Encourage Self-Care in Helping Professionals Through Process-Oriented Hypnosis.”