Individual Therapy Framework
As a therapist, I operate from a strengths-based, client-centered approach, believing that each client is the expert on their own life and their own experience. I an agnostic and a humanist. I view all clients through a humanistic lens, valuing that all humans are capable of both wonderful and atrocious things, and that we are all ultimately a product of the intersection of our genetic makeup, our environment, and the impact of trauma on our lives. This simply means that in my personal view as well as that of professionals and researchers in the field, trauma is inherently complex and there are a myriad of factors which will either worsen or better outcomes for those who have experienced trauma across the lifespan. It is not my job as a clinician to force a trauma narrative of my choosing, but to help the client to piece together the parts of their past trauma they are willing to confront as they arise and to integrate those experiences into a cohesive experience that makes sense within the context of their story. This is what I mean when I say that the client is the expert on their own life.
Additionally, I believe that each client has inherent strengths that it is my job to help them discover if they are unaware of them. Becoming in tune with their strengths, clients can use them to assist in their healing and recovery process. All of those who have experienced trauma across their lifespans have also developed immense points of strength which they may or may not be aware of.
My trauma informed practice knowledge and the theories and research that underpin my personal therapeutic framework now are fairly varied at this point due to my studies, as well as the things I chose to focus on in my own time outside of graduate school while earning my MSW. The thing that brought me to the work of trauma-informed therapy originally was a fascination with personality disorders and the role that trauma plays in their development. Then I became interested in the intersection of religious indoctrination from birth and trauma, and how that affects development on a wider scale, including all of the issues that arise as a result of suppression of the development of “self” and the necessary individuation we must do to become mature adults.
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Rebecca N. Ward, MSW
Rebecca N. Ward, MSW, LLMSW
Trauma-informed Therapist
Specialization: Trauma across the lifespan
VanderWeel & Associates Counseling
4341 South Westnedge Ave., Suite 1203
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Ph: 269-823-2675
Hours: M-F 9:00 - 5:00PM EDT
RebeccaWardMSW.com