Helping you explore, understand, and meet the challenges in your life’s journey

Our emotions can relate to a specific event, be triggered by our personality or outlook, or by our biological or genetic makeup. It’s common to feel anxious or depressed, like you are in a crisis, or questioning your relationships.

Counseling is a way to understand why we feel certain ways. It’s also a way we can change our behavior and outlook to become “unstuck” from unproductive ways of thinking, feeling and acting. Counseling also helps regain balance when we feel that our foundation has been shaken.

There are different types of counseling therapies such as cognitive behavioral, problem solving, and insight oriented. Mindfulness is also becoming another important approach that therapists offer.

There is no one “best” therapy. Each style has its benefits and a place in helping you reach your goals. In order to be successful, any style of therapy relies on collaboration between the therapist and the person seeking help. The development of a supportive, therapeutic relationship promotes working through issues so the individual develops new skills to reduce distress and reach greater peace.

I’ll encourage you to talk about how you think you’ve developed patterns of behavior and which patterns may no longer work for you. I’ll also encourage you to think about how you set boundaries in relationships, view responsibilities to yourself and others, and explore if your reactions to, or interpretations of events ever get blown out of proportion. Through therapy you will learn skills to be a better problem-solver and grow to be more confident and content.

Through these conversations you will gain insight about your thoughts and feelings. Putting your feelings into words helps give you control, leads to resolving inner conflicts, and allows you to develop skills to meet whatever challenges come your way.

I earned my master’s degree from SUNY-Albany and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) through the New York State Education Department. I am a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers as well as a Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work through the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work. This certification in advanced practice means I meet and maintain high standards in clinical education, training, and experience. I have experience with individuals and couples in brief, long-term, crisis therapy, and mental health emergencies.

Since I was a teen, I have been interested in human behavior – how and why we do things that for the most part work out well for us but sometimes cause us stress or other problems. As an undergraduate and graduate student, I studied different theories of behavior. In my practice in family service, community mental health, criminal justice, medical settings and now my private practice, I have helped people understand and apply these theories to their own lives.

Cooper Counseling, a private practice in Rochester, N.Y., allows me to integrate these experiences and work independently to focus on you.