My Approach to Therapy

Blending Evidence-Based Tools With Heart and Humanity

At Malaer Mental Health Services, I use an eclectic, client-centered approach—drawing from multiple therapy models to meet you where you are. Our work together is collaborative and personalized, with thoughtful take-home practices, metaphors, and grounding tools that help you integrate therapy into your real life.

Below are some of the key modalities I use, how they work, and examples of what that might look like in session and between sessions.

  • A flexible, integrative model combining tools from several therapeutic styles to best fit your goals and needs.

  • You’re a whole person—not a diagnosis. An eclectic approach allows us to adapt based on what’s most supportive for your healing journey.

    • Pick a tool from a “coping menu” we co-create and try it 3x this week

    • Track what strategies feel helpful or draining in different settings

Eclectic Approach

Psychodynamic Therapy

  • Helps uncover patterns rooted in early life experiences and explore how they’re showing up today—especially in your relationships and self-perception.

  • Increases self-awareness and emotional insight, which helps you respond rather than react.

    • Journal about early memories related to caregiving, productivity, or being “good”

    • Map emotional themes across current and past relationships

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

  • A goal-oriented, strengths-based approach that focuses on what’s working and how to build on it.

  • Boosts confidence and momentum by identifying clear, achievable steps toward your desired future.

    • Reflect on a time you successfully coped with a challenge—what did you do?

    • Try a small change (e.g., morning routine tweak) and notice its ripple effect

  • Explores the stories you’ve learned or internalized about yourself and helps you re-author them with agency and compassion.

  • Creates emotional distance from painful beliefs and helps you shift from shame to empowerment.

    • Write a letter from your illness, inner critic, or fear—and then write one back

    • Practice saying “That’s the old story—what’s my new one?”

Narrative Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

  • Focuses on accepting difficult emotions, clarifying values, and committing to value-aligned actions—even when it’s hard.

  • Helps you make room for discomfort without letting it run the show.

    • Complete a “values compass” worksheet

    • Practice a values-based action each day, even if your brain says “I don’t feel like it”

Mindfulness-Based Approaches

  • Uses breathwork, grounding, and present-moment awareness to regulate your nervous system and increase self-awareness.

  • Supports emotional regulation and helps you pause before reacting.

    • Practice 2-minute breath awareness at transition points (e.g., before a meeting)

    • Use a grounding script when you notice spiraling thoughts

Trauma-Informed Care

  • Centers safety, trust, and empowerment while understanding how trauma may impact your emotions, body, and relationships.

  • Creates a nonjudgmental space for healing without retraumatization.

    • Identify “safety anchors” (people, places, practices)

    • Explore your nervous system responses using a color-coded mood tracker

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  • Teaches you to recognize and challenge unhelpful thoughts and replace them with more balanced, realistic ones.

  • Helps you shift stuck thinking patterns that fuel anxiety, depression, and low self-worth.

    • Track automatic thoughts and identify “thinking traps”

    • Practice creating a new, compassionate inner response to critical thoughts

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

  • Builds skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and healthy relationships.

  • Helps you feel more in control of emotions and navigate interpersonal challenges more effectively.

    • Try a “TIPP” skill (temperature, intense exercise, paced breathing) during a high-stress moment

    • Practice a DEAR MAN script for a boundary or request

IFS-Informed
(Internal Family Systems)

  • A gentle, compassionate model that views the mind as made up of different “parts,” all trying to protect you—even when it’s messy.

  • Fosters deep healing by helping you understand, unburden, and care for wounded or reactive parts of yourself.

    • Check in with a part (like your inner critic or overwhelmed caregiver) and ask what it needs

    • Use a Parts Map to notice which parts show up in different situations

Compassionate Therapy

  • Not just a technique, but the relational foundation of how I work: with warmth, presence, and respect for your humanity.

  • Healing happens when you feel safe, seen, and supported—not judged or pathologized.

    • Practice offering yourself one kind statement each morning

    • Reflect on: “What would I say to a friend feeling this way?”

Not Sure Which Approach Is Right for You?

That’s okay. You don’t need to understand all the modalities—I’ll guide the process and adapt our work based on your needs, pace, and goals. Schedule your free 15-minute consultation to connect and take the first step toward support and healing. Click below to book your time.

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