I think the hardest part about finding a therapist is trying to figure out “am I going to feel at ease with this person? Are they going to see me? Understand me deeply?” and the answer is - it depends.
So let’s talk about what makes a therapeutic relationship work for us.
As your therapist
Hey! My name is Rosa Hwang. Thanks for dropping by.
I want to take a second to introduce myself here so you can get a
good idea of who I am as a person and in a therapeutic setting.
I’ve been developing my skills as a therapist in a lot of different settings over the last 7 years: inpatient psychiatric care, outpatient hospital clinics, community health, juvenile justice system, outpatient telehealth, and most recently inpatient/residential and partial hospitalization levels of care at an eating disorder hospital in Texas. Every experience in my journey has informed my practice and my clinical techniques. Two important factors of my approach include humor and directness.
Humor plays a huge part of my practice and who I am as an individual. I believe humor is healing! Therapy doesn’t always have to be ~very serious~. Sometimes you just want to sit and yap and I welcome that with open arms! Laughter allows for natural rapport and trust between us. You would be surprised by how much you share when you’re laughing.
Despite the laughs, I can be quite a direct person. My time working at the inpatient level of care has informed my ability to dive deeply, ask questions, and challenge clients even from the first session. The therapeutic relationship is a professional one that mirrors personal relationships - including being challenged by others.
Come as You Are
I believe person-centered work is inherent in a therapeutic relationship. This means that a humanistic approach is baked into our relationship. Because the relationship begins at ‘come as you are,’ it opens up the floor for a lot of very cool moments of connection through curiosity, through challenging, through direction.
Building your toolkit
Like all relationships, the therapeutic relationship is a two-way street. It only works if you work too. This means an authentic, concerted effort to engage, apply, and integrate changes discussed in our sessions.
Changes often happen outside of sessions. Change is not beholden to 1 hour/week with me. I am not the reason for your motivation, your resiliency, your strengths. YOU are the impetus and driving force for shifts in YOUR life.
Think of me as a toolkit: available and ready when you need it, but only useful if you actually use it.
If anything above resonates with you, then welcome! Let’s take some time to chat and get to know each other.