In the initial sessions. Malia engages with you genuinely and curiously to get as close as possible to an accurate understanding of your experiences, your present challenges, and your goals. She employs her training and knowledge to provide you with psychological education based on current research so that you may better understand your current dilemma. Throughout the process of therapy, Malia demonstrates that she truly cares about her clients and wants them to have a healthy well-being and high quality of life. She speaks to you respectfully with a tone of genuine curiosity and care. She offers support by responding to your emotional expressions with great sensitivity and attention. In these moments of vulnerability,
Malia acknowledges and validates your feelings, no matter how intense, and gently brings you deeper into your own experience to continue exploring for potential stuck points (strong negative beliefs that create unpleasant emotions and problematic or unhealthy behaviors).
Malia assists you in your self-exploration by finding the clues in your behavior and the content that you share in therapy that hint at inaccurate and unhelpful perceptions you may be holding, which keep you stuck in cycles of toxic stress and disconnection. The work of therapy after discovering these stuck points, is to release them. In support of this objective, Malia helps you reframe your negative judgments about yourself, validates your experiences as human, and
introduces alternative strategies for approaching your present dilemmas. These new strategies include practices that support you in developing mental flexibility, reducing physical symptoms by calming your body, and helping you be less reactive and more assertive in your relationships.
Malia values diversity and encourages her clients to honor their individual needs and paths. She takes the time to ask if something she said makes sense so that she can ensure that she is communicating with you clearly and appropriately. She reflects what you share back to you to ensure she understands your intended meaning and gives you the opportunity to clarify. She gently challenges and prompts you to confront your fears and resistances so that you gain a sense
of mastery over them. She asks thoughtful questions to further the exploration of a subject. And, she tracks and highlights your progress so you can see how far you’ve come. Ultimately, Malia carefully attends to the nuances of your relationships with different parts of yourself and others, so that she can support you in removing obstacles that are causing you distress and despair.
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