Supervision
My professional experiences and education are varied providing me with a rich background to draw from when facilitating supervision. I am interested in helping you develop your case formulation skills, teaching you how to read countertransference, and improving your understanding of the unconscious process that occurs between therapist and patient.
I have a great deal of experience working with co-occurring disorders and specialize in understanding family systems afflicted by addiction. Understanding how a patient’s substance abuse fits into the family system can often be the key to unlocking sustained recovery. Having worked in a residential setting for many years, I was exposed to secondary trauma daily. Good supervision should also include ways of managing this inevitable aspect of the work. How does one hold the poison without becoming sick themselves?
The secret is to have help and self-care. I can help you explore why you have certain feelings and reactions at any given time. This work can free up a client to become unstuck and give new meaning to the work. Most importantly, it can help you grow as a clinician and free up space to hold the poison without any harm to you. You become a container in which the client can place things for safe keeping until they are ready to take it back in modified form. These are just some of the topics and theories that are explored in supervision with me. I also offer consultation for professionals looking to discuss a specific case on an as needed basis.
Trainings
I presented at the 2019 Vermont Conference on Addictive Disorders. Both presentations utilized psychoanalytic theory to explain and treat co-occurring disorders. The Needle and the Damage Undone covered the psychodynamics of compulsive drug use through the application of music therapy.
Trying to Hug Porcupines: the Good-Enough Holding Environment and Healing from the Inside Out provided an introduction to the psychoanalytic ideas of projective identification and the container function. This presentation relied heavily on the work of Winnicott and Bion.