As a provider José feels it is critical to create an environment where clients can express their innermost thoughts without fear of judgment. Where they can receive consistent, understanding, empathic, and supportive feedback. He strives to give everyone the opportunity to engage in therapy as their authentic selves. José has a master's degree in Social Work. He has worked in inpatient rehabs, community centers, and schools to name a few settings. In those roles he has garnered experience working with people from a variety of backgrounds, and many walks of life. It his mission to foment an accepting therapeutic alliance with anyone who walks through his door regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, or any other demographic factor. He utilizes elements from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and a few other modalities. His hope is to blend technical expertise with a healthy dose of authenticity. He is not looking to work “at” his clients, but with them, to achieve the goals they find most critical.
Welcoming in December: Jane Gallagher, MA
Jane believes that people benefit from having a therapeutic supportive relationship in their life with someone who keeps their best interest in mind. Attending therapy can be a place to shift emotions, find movement from stuck places, and navigate toward an improved life. Jane approaches therapy with a person-centered, strengths approach, meaning she believes that the client has within them the resources and strengths needed to overcome life's challenges. She has a personable and easy going mindset to learn, understand, validate and accept the unique aspects of you. She uses skills like hypnotherapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, coaching, and reflective listening to hold space for the client to change at their own pace and in their own way. She would be happy to see you and would like to remind you of your innate strength and personal power. Jane completed her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Metropolitan State University and continued her education through certifications in Drug and Alcohol Counseling, Problem Gambling Counseling, Clinical Hypnotherapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR). She completed her Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in March of 2022 from Adler Graduate School. Her goal is to possess many therapeutic methods to meet your needs. Jane enjoys getting to know and understand people and working in the mental health, substance use disorder, and wellness fields. In her spare time, she spends time with her family and has fun dancing and finding bucket-list adventures in travel. Jane receives clinical supervision from a qualified, licensed supervisor until completion of full licensure.
Welcoming in January: Dave Smallen, PhD
After nearly a decade exploring the human condition as a social scientist and educator, Dave Smallen (he/him) is joining Birch Counseling as a clinical intern. People who know Dave well describe him as empathetic, curious, enthusiastic, and nonjudgmental. His perspective is that psychological struggles will arise for all of us sometime in life, and that with appropriate support these challenges can paradoxically become the gateway to meaningful growth and new seasons of fulfillment.
Dave is especially informed by existential, person-centered, family systems, feminist, and mindfulness approaches. He is interested in advocating for adults of all backgrounds and identities in deepening their self-knowledge, growing their capacity to live into joy and cope effectively with emotional pain, cultivating mutually supportive relationships, and aligning their everyday lives with their larger purpose—Journeys that he is dedicated to in his own life.
Dave’s professional experience bridges the arts and sciences. Dave’s first career was as a working musician and he continues to nurture an artistic practice. He holds a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has published academic papers and studies related to meaningful social connection, responsive relationships, and mindfulness practice. He is currently completing a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
Welcoming in June: Maddy Fiksdal, MA
Maddy has experience working in various roles and settings with adults and adolescents. She graduated with a master’s degree in Counseling for Co-Occurring Disorders from Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies. She is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) and is currently under supervision while working toward Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) licensure.
Maddy is passionate about working with individuals ages 15+ who are experiencing trauma, addiction, anxiety and particularly enjoys working members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Maddy uses a person-centered lens and brings curiosity, empathy, compassion, and humor to her work. She creates a safe environment and builds strong therapeutic relationships. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) interventions are frequently used tools. Maddy is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Outside of work, Maddy enjoys spending time with friends and family. She loves crossword puzzles, watching movies, and reading. Maddy enjoys rock climbing and tries to be outdoors as much as possible.
Welcoming in January: Student Therapist Jayme Hanson
Growing up Jayme’s parents struggled with mood disorders, depression, and substance abuse. Exposure to their wellness journeys embedded a deep interest in the workings of the human brain and nervous system along with the healing potential of therapy.
Jayme is a connector at her core, she aims to develop deep trust with her clients as they journey through the process of discovery and healing. She is passionate about adults struggling with relationship concerns, anxiety/depression, chronic illness, parenting, work stress, and racial trauma.
Before psychotherapy, Jayme held executive leadership roles within healthcare companies and co-founded a successful medical technology startup that improved treatment access for people living with chronic illnesses. She received her Bachelor's in Psychology from DePaul University and is in the process of obtaining a Master's in Clinical Mental Health from Northwestern University. Upon completion of her clinical rotation and graduation, she will pursue credentials as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPCC).
Welcoming January 15: Student Therapist Kaelyn Dagon
Kaelyn currently is a graduate student at the Saint Mary’s Master’s Counseling and Psychological Services Program. She is working toward becoming a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC). Kaelyn received her bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. She is passionate about working with emerging adults, older adolescents, and professionals in education with a focus on life changes, stress, occupation burnout, goal-setting, performance enhancement, anxiety, and depression. She enjoys working with a diverse population of individuals from different backgrounds and cultures and believes in incorporating one's unique experience into their healing journey. She looks forward to building a safe and welcoming environment where clients are able to build skills in order to achieve their goals. Kaelyn incorporate strategies and concepts from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness based and strength based practices, Narrative Therapy, art therapy, and strengths-based approaches.
In her free time, Kaelyn I enjoys working out, listening to music, watching sports, painting and spending time with family and friends.
Welcoming in April: Carmen Avendano, MA, LMFT
Carmen has fifteen years of experience as a Mental Health Professional, twenty-five years of experience as a cross-cultural trainer and over thirty years of experience as a teacher, including the past ten years as an assistant professor for Counseling Psychology, Health and Human Services, and Marriage & Family Therapy graduate programs at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Carmen is passionate about helping her clients achieve their goals and finding effective ways to deal with life’s challenges. It is her goal to help clients heal, achieve their fullest potential, have mutually supportive relationships and improve their overall well being. Carmen offers client centered care and understands the power of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Working With your ADHD
Do you often find it difficult to finish something you have started? Is it more difficult for you to “kick into gear” or find the motivation and follow-through that other people seem to conjure up easily? In school, was it more challenging to focus and complete your homework? Do you find yourself lunging into new projects without finishing the ones you had already started? Do you often find yourself restless, bored, and seeking stimulation?
If you have adult ADHD, struggling with these issues may have led you to feel guilt, shame, and frustration over the course of your life. If only something in your mind would “click” so you could finish the job.
Here are the facts:
• ADHD is not just a childhood disorder
• ADHD does not only present as hyperactivity
• Very few people outgrow ADHD completely. For most, symptoms remain in adulthood.
While there is no magic cure, working with rather than against the symptoms of ADHD may help. The ADHD mind seeks novelty, excitement, and creativity. Enlisting these motivators can help you reach your goals. Approaching a problem from a novel perspective or seeking new tools can re-invent tedious processes. The next time you feel confined by routine and rigid procedures, consider out-of-the-box solutions to your projects.
Remember that motivation, energy, and focus are different for everyone. When you face a difficult task, you can start by:
• Accepting your limitations and expanding from there. Too often, we waste mental energy on what we cannot do or haven’t done, leaving little for what we can do now.
• Breaking a daunting goal into small, incremental steps while committing to daily action.
• Setting realistic and attainable goals. Creating a habit of consistently accomplishing small tasks makes loftier goals more realistic.
• Entertaining new and creative approaches that capitalize on your unique strengths.
ADHD is challenging; however, you can become more functional and successful by building on your unique strengths. In time, you can develop new approaches to tackle daily tasks and challenges in ways that work with who you are.
Joining us July 1: Laura Linner, MA, LICSW
Laura (she/her) genuinely loves this work and brings authenticity, hope and humor to sessions with individuals and families. She considers it an honor to have the opportunity to walk alongside others in recognizing, accessing, and developing their own resiliency, and in building a rich, full and meaningful life (as they define it!). Laura is mindful of creating a non-judgmental, anti-oppressive, anti-racist, LGBTQIA-affirming space for the clients with whom she works. She views therapy as a collaborative process and values feedback from clients.
Laura’s foundational clinical training is in non-directive Rogerian client-centered therapy from her time as a clinical intern then post-graduate psychotherapy fellow in a group practice in Chicago. This humanistic approach continues to serve as the clinical underpinning of her work with clients. That being said, Laura takes an eclectic approach and aligns with concepts of clinical pragmatism – offering and using what therapeutic intervention works - tailored to each individual. Laura sees therapy as an opportunity to pause, reflect, and take an inventory of how our lives are going, identify what’s working and what isn’t, and make effective change in moving closer to the life we hope for ourselves. Laura brings an attitude of openness, curiosity and compassion with clients. She has benefitted greatly from her own therapy over the years and strives to provide a similarly beneficial experience to those with whom she has the honor of working with.
Laura is trained in, integrates, and draws from a number of therapeutic approaches including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, trauma-informed therapy (TF-ACT and TF-CBT), CBT for psychosis (CBT-p), ACT for psychosis, psychodynamic theory, polyvagal theory, motivational interviewing, harm-reduction, and also employs a neuroscientific lens to reinforce concepts of regulation, zones of optimal functioning and neuroplasticity/opportunity for growth and change. Laura is also trained in child-centered play therapy from when she worked with youth impacted by domestic violence.
Laura completed her graduate degree in clinical social work at The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. For the past four years, Laura has worked for the University of Minnesota Department of Psychiatry as an individual and family therapist specializing in first-episode psychosis and schizophrenia spectrum disorders. She has a passion for working with individuals and families in processing new diagnoses and identifying ways of being that work for all who are impacted in their own unique ways. Prior to this, Laura has experience providing therapy and support to individuals in life transitions, relationship challenges, identity exploration and development, finding a sense of meaning and purpose, working through grief and loss, coping with the impact of domestic violence and trauma, and effectively coping with life stressors. She has also worked both internationally and stateside in violence recovery services and human rights work. Diagnostically, Laura has experience working with individuals who have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, PTSD, OCD, disordered eating, substance use disorders, mood disorders, dissociative disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
Laura believes an individual is not their diagnosis, and joins alongside clients to explore meaning of diagnosis in a way that is adaptive and feels authentic to them.
Laura believes life and humans can be messy, confusing, amazing, doubtful, inspired, worried, scared, brave, determined, hopeless, hopeful and many more things all at the same time. Laura is inspired by people’s willingness and ability to move into discomfort, try new ways of being and make change in ways that feel valuable to them, and she is grateful for being able to provide support along the way.
When Laura isn’t working she enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, snuggling her two cats, needlepointing, watching cooking shows, trying to learn to cook herself, playing outside and learning.
Welcoming in September: Alison Campbell, MSW, LICSW
We are very excited to announce the newest addition to the Birch Counseling Team: Alison Campbell, MSW, LICSW!
Alison enjoys working with both adult individuals and couples across the lifespan from all walks of life. She uses a holistic, mind-body perspective and recognizes that a wide range of past and present influences effect both our individual well being and our relationships. With a collaborative, kind and practical approach, Alison helps people explore patterns that may not be serving them and offers guidance and tools for better coping, balance and resiliency so that they can feel more empowered to make the changes they desire. She uses a strengths based, person centered approach with evidence based practices informed by a blend of frameworks. She has had extensive training in mindfulness and somatic practices.
Alison has experience addressing depression, anxiety, stress reduction, trauma, health issues, substance use, relationship difficulties, grief and loss and personal growth. She has lived on both coasts of the US and has worked with people in a variety of settings including low-come housing, correctional facilities, long term care facilities and hospice and community counseling centers. She received her Master’s degree in Social Work from Washington University in St Louis.
Alison has two children, enjoys good books, good cooking, meeting new people and being in the outdoors. She is also a certified yoga teacher.
Spotlight with Brian Borre: Metacognitive Therapy
Before we get into theory, or how this approach might apply to you, let’s take a detour into language. When used as a prefix in the English language, “meta-”, stemming from the Greek for “after” or “beyond”, means something that goes beyond, to be all-encompassing, or become transcendent. When “Meta” and “Cognitive” are put together, the result essentially means “thinking about thinking.” For example, have you ever had an experience where you’re certain you know the name of something--a person, product, or place--but you can’t recall it? This “tip of the tongue” experience is just one example of how metacognitions work to inform our everyday lives--we’re thinking about how we’re thinking. While most of our meta-processes aren’t so conscious, our metacognitions are in the background actively controlling and influencing our conscious experience of the world,
Metacognitive Therapy (MCT) focuses on targeting and modifying our deeply held beliefs--the thinking about our thinking--that fosters states of perpetual worry, rumination, and/or fixation. For example, if you say to yourself, “worrying about this keeps me safe,” or “I have no control over my thoughts,” you are both observing your own thinkingand having thoughts about thinking. The goal of MCT is simple: identify, challenge, and reduce what they dub, “Cognitive-Attentional Syndrome” (CAS). CAS is an umbrella term that refers to the kinds of beliefs that imply: we need worry, are incapable of stopping worry, and would be better off if we hyperfocus on tackling each individual worry.
You might be thinking to yourself, “Birch Counseling, this is starting to sound a lot like CBT,” (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). The truth is, you aren’t exactly wrong. In CBT, we are dealing with our thoughts. For example, if we were to use CBT to challenge our social anxiety, we might ask ourselves, “how likely will this outcome be, and will it be as bad as we’re thinking it will be?” Essentially, we identify an irrational thought and we challenge it with a more realistic lens.
In comparison, with MCT, we are dealing with how we think about our thinking. We don’t give a lot of attention to the individual thoughts. Instead, we challenge the thinking around the thoughts themselves by asking ourselves, “should I spend my time worrying if the worry doesn’t make it less likely to happen? And if I already worried about it and made a decision, why am I re-worrying about this when I don’t have any new information?” This process, which encourages us to refuse to engage with unhelpful thinking, is called “Detached Mindfulness.” It works because it isn’t avoidance--it challenges people to view their worry and irrational beliefs as something that is outside of their core, observe the thoughts, stay non-reactive to them, and choose to respond without the preoccupation with worry about worried thinking.
Why does Brian like it? Besides being a philosophical guy interested in all things “meta” (emotions, beliefs, and communication), Brian saw that CBT wasn’t always helpful with anxious, depressed, or addiction-driven thinking. From his perspective, it can be equally harmful to hyper-focus on our worry if we feel utterly incapable of controlling or changing it. He thinks about it like “giving in to a screaming toddler you know is just seeking attention because they want something from you, and you don’t know how to handle the upset anymore. Ultimately, it doesn’t help you, or them, to keep caving in or feeling totally helpless to stop it.” Instead, you can learn how to provide the tantruming child in your brain--the anxiety, depression, or addiction monster’s voice--the reassurance that you know what’s best, have a plan, can essentially “pivot” yourself out of the situation, or rebound if you make a mistake. It deflates the tantrum in your brain. And that’s a powerful tool.
If you think Brian might be a fit for you, or have any additional questions about metacognitive therapy, please feel free to reach out to our team at BizOffice@birchcounseling.com.
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Stress in a Stressful Time
Even if your life before this year was relatively smooth sailing, likely, you are not making it through this year unscathed. After all, who could mentally prepared for civil unrest, unemployment, natural disasters, and a global pandemic all at once?
The dramatic events of 2020 are especially difficult for those with a trauma history. People with trauma include those whose past is marked by economic insecurity, frequent moving, homelessness, food insecurity, sudden or unexpected loss, or medical trauma.
Trauma survivors typically develop an “Early Warning System,” alerting against perceived danger. For example, suppose your parents fought a lot when you were a child. In that case, you are likely to be especially sensitive to tension, conflict, or discord around you. This additional sensitivity offers insight as to why today’s upheavals are incredibly stressful for trauma survivors.
If this sounds like you or someone you know, what can you do?
Become fully aware of your feelings and name them.
If you’re watching the news at home and feel panic starting to flood your system, become consciously aware of your reactions. After acknowledging your feelings, recall that you have heightened sensitivity to current events because of your past traumas. Try watching the feelings as, in most cases, they will fade in time. Also, this is an excellent time to change your environment, like going for a walk.
Use your support system.
By putting your truth on the table with someone you trust and acknowledging the impact it’s having on you, you’re gaining control over the uncontrollable. You’re also modeling to others that it’s okay for them to share with you. If you have a limited support system, it might help do some resourcing online or in therapy.
Self-care is important.
Stretching, yoga, journaling, meditation, cooking, or watching comedy can help you feel safe and present. Taking good care of ourselves requires making your needs a priority. As we take better care of ourselves, we will show up as a better partner, parent, worker, and friend.
If what helps you happens to be watching puppy videos on Instagram, please tag us so we can also enjoy a little puppy Prozac!
Be kind to yourself.
The world was stressful before 2020, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be winding down any time soon. Allow yourself to feel sad, scared, stressed, exhausted—whatever comes up. Give yourself time to acknowledge and validate these feelings. You may find it helpful to acknowledge at least one positive for every negative thing you noticed.Are you struggling to go back into the office? Remember that you now have half the traffic you used to Struggling trusting yourself? Remember, it’s okay to not feel like the authority after your entire world has changed. Ask someone you trust what their honest evaluation is of the situation.
Making small adjustments like this work to help you to keep you in balance.
If there was ever an appropriate time to feel a little crazy, this is it. If you find that your internal alarms are going off an awful lot lately, remember you are hardly alone, and at least you know your system is working! Finally, if you are struggling to turn them off, we are happy to connect you with help. Feel free to call us at 866-522-2472 or drop us a line at bizoffice@birchcounseling.com.
