At Mindful Connections, the intention is to empower young individuals, with varying developmental abilities and challenges, navigate through emotional, social and/or behavioral obstacles, by making connections through connection. As human beings, we seek and need connection to thrive. Connection allows us to feel understood, nurtured, and grounded in the moment. A foundation of connectedness allows opportunities for learning, understanding, skill building and growth, to beautifully unfold.
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"I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued; when they can give and receive without judgement; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship."
- Brene Brown
About
Since 2002, I have dedicated my professional career to working with children, adolescents and young adults. I have over 15 years experience supporting families and individuals with developmental disabilities within the home, school and therapeutic setting.
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I am a firm believer that individuals strive through connection and it is through a nurturing connection, where growth can be cultivated. At Mindful Connections, I create this vital connection by utilizing an approach that is action oriented and one in which collaborates the client, their families and other supporting professionals in the community.
My extensive experience has taught me the importance of looking at each individual through their own unique developmental lens, while keeping in mind, the importance of understanding the individual as an interconnected part of the family unit. My goal is to create a space for the individual to supportively work through behavioral, social, and/or emotional challenges, while encouraging, advocacy, self-direction and empowerment.
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CREDENTIALS:
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Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy from California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, CA
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Board Certified Behavior Analyst with an expertise in the development and implementation of home and school behavioral programs and conducting Functional Behavior Assessments
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Counseling, Consultation and Other Services
Counseling
Individual and family therapy are therapeutic services provided at Mindful Connections. I focus on increasing emotional awareness and understanding and the ability to emotionally regulate. I take an integrative, action-oriented approach grounded in the connection between the individual and myself. I am creatively mindful of integrating sensory needs, learning styles, skill strengths and motivating interests while targeting treatment goals.
Direct ABA Therapy
I have more than 15 years of experience with the formulation and implementation of behavioral programs. At Mindful Connections, I use this experience to design programs for or directly working with the individual, to help create opportunities for skill building in areas of communication, social, and behavior management. As part of this journey, I believe parent collaboration and involvement is of great value and encouraged as a vehicle for generalization of targeted skills. As such, I will assist to equip the parental unit with strategies to manage challenging behaviors and foster skill building.
Consultation
A parent or individual may be seeking support that does not require the intensity or frequency of a more traditional, intensive therapeutic approach. One may just need a short term, solution focused approach with strategies to help overcome current concerns. I am happy to have an initial consultation to help you determine the level of intensity of support that will best fit with your individual or parental needs.
Executive Functioning Coaching
As an executive functioning coach, I will support an individual in the development of systems, habits and lifelong skills that are essential in areas of time and task management, planning and organization, prioritization, and the successful execution of goals. The intention is to empower individuals to become autonomous self-advocates with the tools to initiate tasks and break down larger goals into manageable deliverables. Each skill building program is individualized with clear goals and objectives to achieve.
Functional Behavior Assessment
At Mindful Connections, I also carry out Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA). This is an effective way to identify and analyze the function(s) of behaviors as well as environmental variables that may increase or decrease the likelihood of the identified behaviors. Through this analysis, appropriate recommendations of strategies and behavior intervention plans can be applied, ultimately supporting the individual and the environment in reducing targeted behaviors and increasing replacement behaviors. I have extensive experience in conducting FBAs within the home and school settings.
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All services are funded privately. Monthly superbills are provided upon request. FBAs are either funded privately or through Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs).
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