Types of Therapy Offered

Open Space Madison provides clients the space and inspiration to transform. 

People come in all shapes and sizes. But change is part of everyone’s lives. Learning how to navigate the waves while transforming can support balance in your relationships during your change process. I provide the safe space, tools and hope needed for your unique change. I’m looking forward to guiding you on your journey towards a more joy filled life. 

The type of individual therapy I practice blends many different modalities to suit your individual needs including:

• Talk Therapy
• Expressive Arts Therapy
• Trauma Therapy
• Nutrition and Mental Health
• Art Therapy
• Jungian Transpersonal Therapy
• Mediation / Negotiation Therapy
• Mindfulness
• Mind Body Connection-Somatic
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Spiritual / Faith-based
• Multicultural Based

Counseling with Inspiration

Since 2004, I’ve practiced counseling — with a background in international relations and collegiate competitive sports from Washington DC. Since then, I pursued higher levels of education as my passion for people and health increased. I’ve worked in many different therapeutic settings from residential, to intensive outpatient, to small clinics, and now of course private practice — first in New Mexico, and now in Madison, WI. My diverse background has exposed me to a variety of useful techniques, as well as increased my joy in working with a variety of ages of people. Working with people in various stages of life helps me better understand how the past, present and future are intertwined. A perspective many of my clients have found useful. For example, learning how to pivot, exist in non-judgement, experience attunement, and initiate problem solving. 

What to Expect at Your First Open Space Madison Therapy Session

Whether we begin our session in-person or virtually, we’ll spend some time talking so I can gain a deeper understanding of who you are and how I can help. Then, we’ll create a specific plan together for how your counseling can help with your life goals. At each subsequent session we’ll check in about your life goals to see where you’re at, and if we need to make any adjustments with your counseling. Questions are always encouraged, and I’m happy to provide educational materials and referrals when appropriate. My goal is to give you usable tools that make it easier for you to take care of your health outside of our sessions together — I feel education is a big part of that.

Ages I work with Include:

• Young Adult
• Middle age
• College Age
• Pre-teen
• Teen
• Senior

Session Cost:

• $200 hr., self pay
• Insurances Accepted: DEAN, Quartz

Open Space Madison provides couples with the space and inspiration to transform relationships. 

Couples therapy is different. It can be harder and more complex because of the potential intensity of stuck patterns and maladaptive coping skills individually and as a couple. The good news is, just as couple’s counseling can be challenging, the reward is great. The ripple effects of health in a couple are wide. A balanced couple can have a positive impact on twice as many people as an individual. Promoting gratitude which is helpful. My bias in couples counseling is that I try to help the couple to see each other as friends. Fostering friendship in the couple’s relationship can provide an Open Space for humor and non judgment to emerge even while facing some incredibly hard and impossible situations. I rely on the Gottmans and Yalom for teaching about interdependence, communication skills and the roles we play. Open Space Madison provides the safe space, tools and hope needed for your unique relationship change. I’m looking forward to guiding you on your journey towards a more joy-filled life relationship. 

What to Expect at Your First Open Space Madison Couples Therapy Session

Whether we begin our session in-person or virtually, we’ll spend some time talking so I can gain a deeper understanding of who you both are and how I can help. Together, we’ll create a specific plan for how your couples counseling can assist with your relationship goals. At each subsequent session we’ll check in about your relationship goals to see where you’re at, and if we need to make any adjustments with your counseling. Questions are always encouraged, and I’m happy to provide educational materials and referrals when appropriate. My goal is to give you usable tools that make it easier for you to take care of your relationship outside of our sessions together — I feel education is a big part of that.

Topics:

• Communication
• Money
• Reputation
• Friendships
• Intimacy: physical, emotional, sexual
• Divorce/Separation/Mediation
• Repartnering
• Infidelity
• Children
• In-laws
• Politics/Differences

Session Cost:

• $250 hr., self pay
• Most couples sessions are not covered by insurance. Some are, so if you have DEAN or Quartz healthcare, please check with your insurance provider.

Open Space Madison gives families the space and inspiration to transform. 

Since 2004, I’ve practiced counseling — working with people in various stages of life. Family therapy is common especially around parenting concerns. Parenting is a time of tremendous change and potential growth. 

Family therapy is also helpful for many challenges, including:

• Family-of-origin challenges such as adult children and aging parents, tackling the question: how to be supportive and live your life?
• Younger, new-family challenges include: now we have kids and never sleep or have time for each other.
• Sometimes family therapy covers the dynamics of divorce or separation, and can include repartnering, co-parenting, blended families, and creating parenting plans for mediations. 

During your family therapy session, you and your loved ones can learn better communication skills, practice the art of feeling good enough and letting go of perfectionism. I look forward to helping you manage your expectations and build a sense of closeness and acceptance in your relationships. I also provide educational materials and referrals when appropriate. My goal is to give you usable tools that make it easier for you to take care of your and your families’ health outside of our sessions together.

What to Expect at Your First Open Space Madison Family Therapy Session

Whether we begin our session in-person or virtually, we’ll spend some time talking so I can gain a deeper understanding of your families’ needs and how I can help. We will take our time and make sure everyone involved feels like they have had a chance to express themselves thoroughly. Sometimes that looks like different pairs of people in a specific session, and sometimes it includes everyone. Alternatively, sometimes there are family sessions with only one family member at a time. All of these options are available to your family. Piece by piece, together, we’ll create a specific plan for how your counseling can help with your families’ life goals. At each subsequent session we’ll check in about your families’ life goals to see where you’re at, and if we need to make any adjustments with your counseling. 

Session Cost:

• $250 hr., self pay
• Insurances Accepted: DEAN, Quartz

Open Space Madison provides clients the space and inspiration to transform with art therapy and expressive art therapy.

Sometimes the counseling space requires a bit more ingenuity and out of the box thinking. Art therapy and expressive arts therapy allow me to use a variety of modalities and techniques to effectively match with, and meet you where you’re at. Because as much as we all go through similar cycles and stages of life our personal lives are wildly unique and deserve to be seen.

Examples of How Art Therapy Works

• If you can not imagine better you will not know to go seek it. Art therapy literally teaches you how to envision a better future. I facilitate a creative process step-by-step, sharing why I am suggesting a topic and providing a variety of art supplies that best suit how you’d like to create.
• Words can be hard to find when experiencing strong emotion. Art therapy techniques give voice through imagery. If you are struggling with finding the right words, art therapy might be a good fit for you.
• Replication art skill is completely unnecessary for powerful and meaningful art therapy — meaning you could create a symbol with your non-dominant hand or draw for only 5 seconds and that image will have symbolism to you. It will not matter how well you replicated a picture, it matters that you gave voice to an unseen part of you.
• Art making is also proven to provide a calming impact of the nervous system and a healthy distraction skill while healing more complex issues.

Examples of How Expressive Art Therapy Works

• Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA) is inquisitive and empowering. It embraces choices, accepts suffering and promotes change.
• Shift from I to We: learn how to step out of isolating behaviors and into connection.

• Decentering: taking a step outside of your everyday life to imagine and create something new and different.
• Look at your challenges, and really learn how to describe the impact of your challenges on your life and those around you. EXA teaches accountability.
• Investigate what you have tried before and what have been the results.
• Poiesis: bringing forth something that has not been created before.
• Notice themes and patterns in your life.
• Point out the surprises: the openings in your patterns or cycles.
• Skills of reflection and circling back are taught through a technique of aesthetic responses.
• Nurtures a deeper and more expansion relationship with the creative arts and includes intermodality of music, voice, movement and writing with the fine arts.

What to Expect at Your First Open Space Madison Art Therapy or EXA Session

Whether we begin our session in-person or virtually, we’ll spend some time talking so I can gain a deeper understanding of your needs and how I can help. We’ll create a specific plan for how your art therapy or expressive arts therapy session can help with your life goals. At each subsequent session we’ll check in about your life goals to see where you’re at, and if we need to make any adjustments with your counseling.

Materials provided as needed: 

• Mosaics
• Music
• Writing
• Fine Arts
• Sculpture
• Body Connection/Movement
• Found Objects or Talismans

Session Cost:

• $200 hr., self pay
• Insurances Accepted: DEAN, Quartz

Open Space Madison provides clients the space and inspiration to transform with a powerful community arts and wellness program.

My practice focuses on bringing the best out of people and communities. I love supporting other therapists’ rejuvenation and I have taught numerous continuing education classes that teach therapists how to incorporate the arts and creativity into talk therapy. My dedication to community health also includes the successful facilitation of the design and installation of numerous community mosaic murals in various states and countries. These community mosaic murals are permanent reminders of times of challenge and healing. I have worked with Palestinian and Israeli young adults in New Mexico at Creativity for Peace camps, as well as at youth shelters for at-promise youth who embrace the opportunity to be seen as artists and contributors to their community.

What to Expect at Your First Open Space Madison Community Art and Wellness Session

Whether we begin our session in-person or virtually, we’ll spend time talking so I can gain a deeper understanding of your communitys’ needs and how I can help. We’ll create a specific plan for how your community’s art and wellness session can help with your communitys’ goals. At each subsequent session we’ll check in about your community’s art and wellness goals to see where your community art and wellness project is at, and if we need to make any adjustments.

Includes:

• Expert Community Mosaic Mural Making
• Building creative communities
• Team Building
• Neighborhood Beautification
• Art Therapy Processes
• Expressive Arts Therapy Poiesis
• Receive manual on how to fund, design, inspire and install a community mosaic
• You can check out completed community art and wellness work here

Fee: $1,000-$25,000/project, depending on scope

Open Space Madison provides therapists-in-training, and those in the internship phase of their graduate programs, the space and inspiration to transform. 

I specialize in helping therapists-in-training learn to see their uniqueness as therapists — honoring their strengths and limitations. New therapists are vulnerable to early-stage burnout and overwhelm, and can use the guidance of a senior therapist to suggest and validate professional boundaries. Learning how to advocate for yourself as a new therapist can feel intimidating. Supervision with me can help you learn how to have hard conversations, which is an important communication skill to acquire.

Includes:

• Supervision for post graduate therapists in training working toward licensure (Licensed Professional Counselors and Art Therapists)
• Teaching and supervising internships at the graduate school level
• Training sessions on how to incorporate the creative arts into traditional talk therapy

Fee: $150 hr.