About Madison
What you’ll be expect from me is that I bring my whole self in the room.
I am by no means a stoic therapist. I like to be irreverent and use humor. You’ll notice I am a direct person and instead of avoiding the elephant in the room, I like to become friends with the elephant. I also will ask for your thoughts around how therapy is going and am open to hearing your feedback.
Some other things you’ll learn about me is that I have 2 cats, I love miniatures and trinkets, I most likely won’t have seen the movie you’re mentioning (sorry! I’m prone to fall asleep during movies), my hair will change varying shades of pink, and you’ll maybe hear my midwest accent slip out at times.
If you're curious why I became a therapist, it's because I didn't like my therapist as a teenager! I felt pushed and pried at without given any real direction for how to deal with things. I didn’t know art therapy existed until I was doing my own research for college. After I learned more about art therapy and working with teens and kids in different settings, I decided to pursue becoming an art therapist.
Professionally, I graduated from Marylhurst University in 2018. I have worked inpatient, community-based outpatient, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient, providing individual, family, and group counseling - both art therapy specific and more traditional therapy modalities. I've also had the joy of helping create mental health programs through therapy curriculum development.
My Approach
No matter which method and "what" we are doing, virtual or in-person, making art or solely talking, the "how" to doing therapy is more important. This means putting the relationship first. You aren't going to be able to hear the hard stuff from a therapist, or anyone, that you don't feel connected with. I want to earn your trust and make sure you feel truly seen and heard, which is why you'll see that I'm not a therapist to be doing a lot of head nods and mhm's. I take an active approach with my clients. Many of my clients had the experience of "I showed up every week, talked about my stuff, went home, and nothing changed." I will challenge you to find a different way of navigating to see the real change you are wanting.
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If you want to know more about the therapeutic modalities I use,
click below.