You do not have to have a mental health diagnosis to start working with me! My goal is to help you with personal growth to improve your overall well-being, to live a more fulfilling life. Here is an overview of my specialty areas:
Men’s issues and LGBTQIA+ issues
Psychological assessments and tests
Personal change and growth
You do not have to have depression or anxiety to work with me. As a psychologist, I am able to help and assist you on your own path of personal change and growth to achieve your goals.
As an internationally trained psychologist from Austria working in Florida, I can utilize my skills and expertise to help you with a variety of evidence-based strategies. Through these tools I can help you identify, challenge, and change negative thought patterns that may be holding you back from living a more fulfilling life.
- Tools from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) focus on identifying and changing negative thought and behavioral patterns. CBT traditionally aims at providing skills to cope with difficult situations and emotions to develop a more positive outlook. CBT can therefore be helpful for anyone to learn skills for managing stress and improving relationships.
- Tools from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) focus on building psychological flexibility. It means developing the ability to be present (mindfulness) and to choose behaviors based on your own personal values (committed action). It can be helpful for anyone to live a more purposeful life, aligned with personal values.
- Tools from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) combine parts of CBT with a dialectical philosophy (the acceptance that reality is in a constant state of change, and that two seemingly conflicting things can be true at the same time). It provides skills for managing difficult emotions and improving relationships which can be incredibly helpful for emotion regulation.
As a summary, working with me does not require a mental health diagnosis. You can view it as self-care and as a spa day for your brain! By developing psychological flexibility, emotion regulation and the ability to challenge your own negative thoughts, you can work towards a life that feels more fulfilling and rewarding.
Adult ADHD
Are you struggling with ADHD symptoms, and do you feel like it’s holding you back from reaching your full potential?
You are not alone: did you know that 11% of children (6.4 million) have been diagnosed with ADHD in 2011? For 60% of children diagnosed with ADHD, some of the symptoms still persist later in adulthood – it is estimated that adult ADHD affects more than 8 million adults (or up to 5% of Americans). Moreover, for many people, ADHD is not diagnosed until later in life.
Regardless of receiving an ADHD diagnosis in child- or adulthood: while ADHD shares common diagnostic markers, I also like to say that the only common thing that all adults with ADHD share is how different it affects everyone. It is important for me as a licensed psychologist and “ADHD certified clinical services provider (ADHD-CCSP)” to mention that there can’t be “one size fits all” therapy approach. It needs to be uniquely tailored to your individual needs.
Common diagnostic markers include concentration difficulties, impulsivity, inattentiveness, and hyperactivity. For adults, these symptoms can make it challenging to manage time and work tasks effectively; untreated, it can lead to impairements in personal and professional life.
I have extensive experience working with adults who struggle with ADHD; I offer assessments as well as evidence-based therapies such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance-and-commitment therapy (ACT), and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
As a problem-focused and goal-oriented approach, CBT can help individuals detect and change negative thought patterns. Typical CBT skills include time-management, organization, and problem-solving.
Utilizing mindfulness, ACT focuses on accepting difficult thoughts and emotions (rather than trying to change them), which can lead to a higher level of self-compassion to cope with the stress and frustration that sometimes come with ADHD.
DBT provides helpful tools to cope with difficult emotions and to improve relationships which can sometimes be affected by ADHD symptoms.
It is important to mention that each adult with ADHD requires uniquely tailored solutions. My ADHD-related expertise makes me the ideal choice for professional seeking high-quality care.
Anxiety and stress
If you feel overwhelmed by stress, or you struggle with anxiety, a licensed psychologist can help you manage common mental health concerns.
I am a licensed psychologist with an expertise in the treatment of anxiety disorders (especially social anxiety disorder), but I am also an expert for stress management.
Both stress and anxiety can significantly affect people’s well-being:
- Stress – as a response to ongoing and prolonged stressful situations – affects individuals physically and emotionally. It can be caused by a variety of factors where people feel like they are not in control over certain things, such as work-related pressures or financial or relationship issues. It can even lead to physiological symptoms like fatigue, headache, or high blood pressure.
- Anxiety affects millions of people worldwide; it can be triggered by very specific situations (e.g., phobias like fear of heights, fear of flying, etc.), or it can be more generalized. Similar to chronic stress, it also includes symptoms like a rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, etc.
The key difference can be that stress is usually connected to external stressors, such as difficult work situations, or dysfunctional relationships, while anxiety is usually connected to internal factors like excessive worrying, even when there may be no actual threat present at the moment. Stress and anxiety can coexist and exacerbate each other; e.g., chronic stress can lead to anxiety, or anxiety can cause chronic stress, etc.
Treatment typically involves element from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Especially CBT is the gold standard for the treatment of anxiety because it teaches coping skills such as body relaxation techniques, it includes cognitive restructuring to change negative thoughts, and it also can include exposure therapy. All of these tools aim at significantly decreasing anxiety to live a more fulfilling life.
If you are looking for a provider who is specialized in anxiety treatment: Look no further. I specialized in the treatment of anxiety disorders, such as social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, and panic attacks. Don’t let anxiety or stress hold you back from reaching your full potential!
Couple counseling
I am a licensed psychologist trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance-and-commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and schema therapy – all of these techniques can be effective not only for individuals, but also for couples. I welcome couples as well as individuals living in poly* relationships.
- CBT can help couples identify, challenge, and change negative cognitive patterns and behaviors. Typical CBT tools also include communication strategies and problem-solving tools to improve overall relationship satisfaction.
- ACT provides tools to identify shared values and goals as a couple. It can be helpful to develop greater acceptance and mindfulness in a relationship to respond to challenges in a more adaptive way.
- DBT is helpful to develop greater emotional awareness and coping skills, to improve the ability to communicate more effectively.
- Last, but not least, schema-focused therapy provides tools to identify underlying patterns of thoughts that can contribute to problems in relationships. \
Each couple deserves uniquely tailored solutions, there can’t be “one size fits all” approach. My goal is to help you by improving your communication, increasing emotional awareness and cognitive flexibility, to give you a better understanding of how your and your partner’s minds work.
Men’s issues and LGBTQIA+ issues
I also focus heavily on “men’s issues” and “masculinity”.
Society expects men to behave or act in a certain way which may not be always what we want for ourselves. I work with my clients on challenging negative beliefs, stress and emotion regulation tools, to provide them with better insights about their male identity, and helping them to achieve their full potential.
I am also experienced with working with LGBTQIA+ individuals and couples. While sexual identity may not be a source of distress, it’s sometimes the stigma of living as a minority that can be a source of distress and anxiety. In my work, I also focus on identifying and challenging heteronormative idea(l)s; my goal is to improve my clients’ overall well-being.
Assessments and tests
As a licensed psychologist, I am also trained in providing assessments and tests for a wide variety of issues. Here are a few examples:
- ADHD assessments (with a detailed assessment of memory, attention, executive and cognitive functions) can be incredibly helpful and insightful for adults with ADHD because it gives them a unique perspective of how their ADHD affects them individually. All of my assessments include a thorough report with individualized coping strategies, based on assessment outcomes.
Other assessments include:
- IQ/intelligence/areas of strength/gifted and achievement tests,
- Cognitive performance tests for more information on memory, attention, and/or cognitive issues,
- Aptitude/achievement and learning disabilities,
- Personality issues/concerns,
- General mental health assessment (e.g., to receive an accurate mental health diagnosis for further treatment by primary care physicians/psychiatrists/registered nurse practitioners).
Please note that assessment fees vary depending on the purpose. Feel free to schedule a consultation session to discuss assessments with me.
If you have any questions or wish to schedule an initial consultation session, please feel free to send an email to office@thriveinlifepsychology.com.