Meet Janet 

Practice Philosophy 

I believe everyone has a powerful story, and I also believe in everyone's inner resiliency and self-empowerment. I know what often brings people to therapy are the challenges and bumps in the road, life transitions, disconnection, heartbreak, trauma, and more. I believe that everyone who has experienced those ups and downs is incredibly resilient, and I like to see myself as a guide to support in getting to a place of inner acceptance and harmony. I don't believe those painful moments mean that you're "broken" or need to be "fixed" in any way. I truly see therapy as an opportunity to slow down, understand the experiences better, make meaning, and learn how to cope more effectively. 

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My process of working with clients is collaborative and flexible. I want everyone who enters my office to know that your emotions aren't too much for me, your anger isn't scary to me, your pain is something I am willing to honor and sit with, and your traumatic experiences won't disturb me. I will help you hold all of this so we can work together to help you get some relief and create the life you want.

 

Specialties

 

EMDR & Trauma Therapy 

For some individuals, there have been certain life events that feel unspeakable. My approach to supporting clients through past and present trauma is to create a safe space to feel like it's okay to share all aspects of the experience. My approach to working with trauma incorporates past memories, physical and body sensations, as well as our internal dialogue and the beliefs we held inside about ourselves related to the traumatic experiences. Trauma isn't only physical abuse, sexual assault, and combat war, it's also experienced with neglect and abandonment. Trauma is being gaslighted in partnership. Trauma is really any experience that has caused significant distress in one's life. 

 

Research shows that EMDR is a non-invasive approach to working with trauma, and the healing effects can come much more rapidly than through regular talk therapy. EMDR utilizes bilateral stimulation, through rapid eye movements, similar to eye movements occurring in REM sleep, tapping, or bilateral sounds to bring forth unconscious or blocked memories to be reprocessed. EMDR is shown effective in working with histories of sexual assault, rape, physical abuse, car accidents, natural disasters, combat trauma, and addiction. EMDR can also help in getting negative beliefs or stories held about oneself unstuck from the emotional memory network of your brain.

 

There’s no wrong way to do EMDR. And as your therapist, I will support and guide you through the process. The only requirement is interest and openness to the process. 

 

Havening Techniques

Havening Techniques is a non-traditional form of healing therapy. It is a psycho-sensory modality that helps “de-code” traumatic and disturbing memories that have been encoded in the body and brain.

 

Havening Techniques utilizes a specific intervention called the Havening touch. The Havening touch produces delta waves in the body, which are typically produced in our most relaxed states, primarily during sleep, and what this does is it creates a gentle and soothing way to work through challenging or distressing issues and memories. If you find that at times it is challenging to manage intense feelings of anxiety, I can support you and teach you this type of therapy to support and empower yourself and help increase your confidence in managing and coping with intense anxiety. 

 

Couples Therapy

I work with couples in all phases of their relationship, whether it's premarital, during the marriage, couples with children, couples on the brink of divorce, and even couples newly dating. 

 

I have training in Gottman relationship therapy and utilize Gottman communication tools, supporting clients in removing barriers to conflict resolution and creating more empathy and compassion in partnerships. 

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Infidelity Recovery 

Coming into therapy and feeling at your lowest about your relationship takes courage. I find that couples who have experienced infidelity challenges in their relationship feel as though the ground that they walk on is unstable. I work with couples on establishing a sense of emotional safety and more stable grounds with time and commitment. My approach is to support couples in creating new boundaries in the partnership, as well as processing emotions and needs related to the experiences. With hard work, couples can create a whole new relationship with one another that's rooted in emotional connection, support, and newfound trust and respect. 

 

Sex Therapy 

Entering therapy for any sexual challenges can be a vulnerable experience for both individuals and couples. It requires courage and a level of intimacy to understand the true nature of what’s happening within. Sex has many layers, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Sexual challenges can also be very difficult to talk about and this is something that I acknowledge.

 

My hope with individuals and couples that are seeking sex therapy is to support them in experiencing more freedom internally and externally; identifying core values and boundaries surrounding sex, as well as removing any barriers to sexual challenges. Ultimately, sex therapy’s purpose is to help in having a more pleasurable sexual life, and a satisfying relationship with your partner(s).

 

I see both same-sex and heterosexual couples. I also provide individual sex therapy counseling.

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Background
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, and moved to South Florida in 2019. I attended California State University Northridge and graduated with my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. I also completed my Master's Degree in Social Work at the University of Southern California. What led me to my work in trauma therapy is to down my own trauma work and come to a place of my own recovery. I found the process of EMDR and Havening Techniques to be quite profound, and I appreciate and enjoy sharing it with others. 

 

When I am not working as a therapist, I enjoy belly dancing, hiking, traveling, swimming at the beach, and anything that gets my body moving! I love vibrant cities like Los Angeles and Miami and have such a soft spot for beach towns.

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Janet is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the states of California and Florida. Janet works from a trauma-focused and attachment-oriented perspective, supporting individuals and couples through their healing of past and current distressing events. She helps couples  She's trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Havening Techniques. EMDR and Havening Techniques are a psycho sensory modality that supports individuals in de-traumatizing stressful memories in the brain. Janet sub-specializes in sex therapy, supporting individuals and couples in their relational and sexual wellness by providing effective tools that can support in managing conflict, and increasing intimacy and connection. 

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