About Me/My Approach
My Story
Since I was a child I’ve always believed in superpowers and superheroes. I had a reoccurring dream that if I put my mind to it and ran really fast, I could walk on water. And in my dreams I did! It felt real and empowering! Inevitably, this belief crashed against the laws of physics but to my surprise I was not disappointed or heartbroken. That dream left me with a tingling feeling of hope and excitement and set me on a life-long journey of studying human psychology and philosophy in search of answers to questions like “How powerful our mind can really be?”, ”Does it have limitations?”, “What is possible if we truly believe?”…
Coming from a family of educators, I have always been passionate about learning and then teaching later in life. My mother worked as an inspiring teacher of Russian literature for over 40 years and also served as a school principal for over 10 years. My father devoted his life to coaching gymnastics and left his mark in the history of Russian athletics as one of the best coaches of his time. Consequently, applying for a Bachelor and then Master Degrees in Education was a natural choice for me.
I hold two Master Degrees: MA in Foreign Language Education/Philology and MA in Counseling. And I am currently enrolled in Counseling Education and Supervision PhD program to enhance my knowledge of this fascinating and always evolving field and to keep developing my skills as a therapist.
My previous experience working as a therapist at Lifeworks and Austin Lakes Hospital gave me an opportunity to work with a broad range of psychiatric disorders and levels of acuity. My responsibilities included conducting intakes and assessments, collaborating with multi-disciplinary team to create accurate and personalized treatment plans, reaching out to the community in order to help clients find necessary transitional resources, facilitating individual and group therapy, utilizing various intervention techniques. I am currently working in a private practice setting where I provide a wide range of services applying my extensive experience and continuous training.
EMDR
Hypnotherapy
PTSD/ Trauma
Anxiety Disorders
Depression
Phobias
Pain Management
Domestic Violence
Life Transitions
Grief and Loss
Divorce
My Approach
I work from the belief that the human body and mind work together and constantly strive to find an inner peace and balance through self-healing. My role as a counselor is to help you create self-awareness, to facilitate the healing process, and to support you on your journey to finding your inner peace and life satisfaction. I enjoy working with adults, couples, and adolescents, addressing a wide range of challenges.
My approach to counseling is holistic, trauma-focused, strength-based, and is heavily informed by new and constantly emerging discoveries in the field of neuroscience. I utilize not only traditional modalities of therapy in my work with clients but also such mind-body techniques as mindfulness, EMDR, and clinical hypnosis.
I believe that the relationship and trust I build with my clients is by far more important than any technique. If there is no trust, acceptance, authenticity, and mutual respect in the relationship, there can be no therapeutic change! Therefore, in my practice I strive to create a nonjudgmental, open, and supportive environment for my clients.