Why the Astilbe Flower?

Outside of my therapeutic work with clients, I love learning about and working with flowers and gardening. The astilbe flower is one that culturally symbolizes commitment and dedication to those you care about, as well as resilience and courage. It’s a shade flower, growing and thriving out of direct sunlight, but its color is lighter and brighter than many shade flowers. The astilbe, then, is a bright light and burst of color growing in darkness. When therapy is at its best, that’s how it feels to me - supporting what can grow and flourish, even in what feels like darkness.

What is it like to do therapy with Dr. Johnson?

My Style:

Warm, relatable, and intentional

Integrative

Our work should not feel sterile or over-pathologizing. More likely, it should feel productive, challenging, moving, emotional, and real. I show up as my authentic human self, a fellow community member, ready to build a trusting and collaborative relationship with the human in front of me. At the same time, I will listen with a keen ear, engage you in challenging inquiries, and provide feedback grounded in science.

My Technique:

I describe myself as an integrative therapist. This means that I merge multiple therapeutic modalities into one cohesive framework. This allows for an intentional, flexible, and personalized approach- tailored just for you. I incorporate evidence based modalities that offer everyday tools, and strategies as well as depth and past oriented treatment models. I find that through customized and holistic care, clients and I are able to effectively work toward their goals. Overall, I support clients in increasing their ability to feel emotional pain safely, deal with life's challenges, and relate to themselves and others with security and confidence.

Some of the foundational ways I approach work with my clients:

  • Our experiences in relationships starting from the first moments of birth, create a blueprint for our relational functioning today. We use the therapeutic relationship as a testing ground, and a place for corrective emotional experiences in order to strengthen your relationships with others and within yourself.

  • I support you so you can experience and understand emotions safely and tolerably. As humans, when we can experience our emotional world, we grow and heal in surprising ways. Clients report unlocking access to a wealth of psychological wisdom and freedom through this work. Feeling through emotions to their completion, rather than getting over hem actually rewires our brains toward healthier more fulfilling ideas and behaviors. This process often becomes more tangible when we face emotions in the presence of a caring, genuine, and empathetic other. No matter what feelings arise, you don’t have to go at it alone.

  • Sometimes we need skills, strategies, and concepts to make more immediate changes to current crises or symptoms. This often includes practicing mindfulness, learning how to tolerate distress without making our problems worse, communicating in thoughtful and direct ways, and increasing our experiences of pleasure and mastery.

  • Change often isn’t possible without first building the capacity to accept (not necessarily approve) of our current realities as they are in any given moment. By dropping the rope in the tug of war with what is, we experience inevitable pain but gain the power to greatly decrease our suffering. With acceptance based tools, we can refocus and live in accordance with our values. Although change isn’t the goal here, it often follows as a nice side effect.