Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
At the very beginning of my counseling career I worked primarily with adolescent and adult individuals at a local non-profit private practice with a few couples sprinkled in between. I became interested in learning more about a particular type of couples therapy that was based in attachment theory called Emotion Focused Couples Therapy. I completed an externship and core skills training in EFT and shortly thereafter the non-profit private practice I worked for closed its Kansas City location. I set upon creating my own private practice, and simultaneously my husband purchased his own small business and we began having children. With all of the upheaval in our lives through those years we recognized that our own marriage needed more support and we found a therapist that offered couples counseling using that same couples therapy model. It was through sitting on the couch for 2 ½ years with my husband that I developed a completely different understanding of this model of couples therapy. It was no longer just education in my mind, it was now in my own flesh and bones. I went back and took the full training again, and this time the experience felt transformational for me in my own career as a couples therapist. I think it was evident in my practice that I was able to support couples in very different way and my work began to feel like a passion. Because of that I now predominately work with couples.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Any entrepreneur knows it goes without saying that there will be a multitude of struggles along the way. My primary challenge comes down to the the complexity of working within a system. At any given moment I am holding in my mind the couples dynamic, each partners intrapersonal dynamic, psychosocial dynamics, attachment histories, unconscious projections, and unspoken wishes. My task is to connect, understand, empathize, make meaning, challenge, and interpret what is happening in the session. Then I must synthesize these components and help each person reach to their partner with vulnerability, honesty, openness and desire. It’s a demanding but rewarding process!
We’ve been impressed with Nexus Counseling LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I find this to be a funny question to answer because the truth is that I don’t know what sets me apart from my colleagues because I can’t see the work of other therapists in real time like I could if I was say, a coffee shop owner. What happens in my office is intentionally private and so it’s difficult to compare myself or know how to tell you what I offer in contrast to other therapists. What I can give you though is a snapshot from a Reddit thread from a few years ago that I still get referrals from today. This is what the post said:
“I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t recommend her if one or both of you don’t have the guts to really FEEL the sources of your misunderstandings and disagreements. More often than not these patterns of behavior are rooted in very painful past experiences, and bringing them to the surface is [really] difficult, for me anyway, I’m the one who represses his emotions for various reasons. And despite other counselors being maybe able to see the cave/armor I hide in, Danielle is the first person that has been able to be gentle enough to coax me into the light. She is wonderful. Definitely not inexpensive, but I’ve never felt like we were paying too much. The results are real and measurable.”
I don’t know that I could describe my work better than that. What I hope to convey to everyone I work with is that I deeply care that they are trusting me with the some of the most precious parts of themselves and they are showing up because these issues really matter to them. Some people come in and already know how to engage in therapeutic work and some people come into my office trying therapy for the very first time. Regardless, of where they are on that continuum, it means so much to me to be given a chance to work together to create more of the life they want to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nexuscounselingkc.com
