Judy, thank you! Thank you for all your help with my “crisis of self-doubt.” I didn’t expect to be needing your services, but life happens when one is making other plans. Thanks for being the person I needed and especially for teaching me NOT to need you—this is the greatest gift of all.

B. N. Nursing Student

Approach

The Motivational Strategies approach to counseling and life coaching is a “Solution-Oriented” one. This means that the conversational methods and communication I bring to each session are purposely selected to emphasize the strengths of my clients and help them progress toward their outcomes. I am not interested in psychoanalysis or “feel good” therapy. I want what my clients want—RESULTS. I have extensive training in solution-oriented therapy methods and these are the skills I use in working with individuals and groups:

Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a psychological approach to helping people access personal resources and effective mind-body states. It is an evolving field of study that began over 30 years ago as a project in modeling the communication patterns of the most successful therapists of the human potential movement. It draws from Gestalt Psychotherapy, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy, Conjoint Family Therapy, Behavioral Therapy, and Learning Psychology. NLP came into its own in the 1980s when NLP training programs, books, and institutes sprang up throughout the world and NLP began showing up not only in therapeutic settings, but in sales, business, education, training, sports, and motivational speaking. NLP is the study, development, and application of a wide variety of methods for improving mind-body states (Neuro), communication patterns (Linguistic), and behavior (Programming).

For more information about NLP, click on these links

What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?
FAQ: Neuro-Linguistic Programming?

Clinical Hypnotherapy: In 1958, the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association recognized Clinical Hypnotherapy as a valid adjunct to more traditional therapeutic practices. The most widely used form of psychotherapy today is Ericksonian hypnotherapy, modeled after the late Dr. Milton H. Erickson (1905–1980) who revolutionized the use of hypnosis in clinical settings in the mid-twentieth century. His communication patterns were a primary influence in the development of NLP. The Ericksonian Foundation continues to promote the study of his work, and numerous professional training organizations continue to teach his methods to helping professionals across the world. For more information about Clinical Hypnotherapy click on the following links in this web site:

Understanding Clinical Hypnosis
Hypnotherapy: What You Can Expect
Hypnotizability: Do You Have it?
FAQ: Hypnotherapy

I consider my work to be Ericksonian, while I also draw from the teachings and writings of the late Walter Sichort and David Ellman who are considered to be more “traditional” than Erickson in their approach to hypnotherapy.

Client-Centered, Cognitive Therapy: All good counseling and psychotherapy approaches are client-centered and cognitive, regardless of what they are called. Client-centered therapy, founded by the late Dr. Carl Rogers, focuses on the quality of the relationship between the helping professional and the client. Rapport is the hallmark of Client-Centered Therapy, in which the professional offers reflective listening, non-judgmental acceptance, and respect. Cognitive Therapy assists the client in understanding defense mechanisms and in changing limiting beliefs, self-talk, and patterns of thinking.