Lily Rivera,Licensed Mental Health Counselor

My name is Lily Rivera. But everybody calls me Annie. I am passionate about helping people to help themselves through the use of clinical approaches and various coping skills. I have years of experience working with all ages and a variety of issues from anxiety and depression all the way to trauma and substance use. I also have worked with families and children doing couples therapy along with play therapy as well. I believe the foundation of building rapport with clients is best accomplished through client-centered modalities however I do pull a lot from cognitive behavioral and reality-based therapy as well. I consider myself to be very eclectic and can also use approaches from play therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and Adlerian therapy. I also have expertise in working with trauma-focused cognitive approaches as well. I have worked in many specialties over the years with substance use, children and family therapy, and had a behavioral health hospital with severely mentally ill.

It is always my focus to help the client to achieve their goals at their own pace and to meet them where they are. I believe in helping the client to help themselves and gain coping skills to manage their own emotions and thoughts, therefore, empowering them to move forward after therapy is finished on their own two feet. I believe that communication starts with actively listening and being attentive to the client's needs, wants, and goals for their own treatment. Then I believe that modeling the appropriate assertive communication and being direct and respectful is the best way to communicate and teach communication as well.

My journey to therapy began when I was very young and experienced struggles in my childhood and learned that I wanted to go forward and help other children and even ultimately adults to feel better about themselves and have fewer insecurities in their life. I've had 20-plus years of training in various modalities such as beginning with substance abuse therapy, trauma focus therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and play therapy. I have worked in many settings such as a therapeutic community for teenagers with substance abuse issues, private practice, a methadone clinic, a Behavioral health hospital for severe mental illness, and with the Department of Children and Families utilizing therapy with children in foster care and of homes that they were removed from. I also have a master's degree in psychology and I'm a licensed mental health counselor with the state of Florida and a qualified supervisor as well.

Successful care and accomplishment of goals are purely based on the clients' needs and wants and what they see for themselves and how willing they are to get to that goal. As progress is determined purely by the amount of work the client would like to put into learning and utilizing what the therapy is providing. The first session with me begins first with active listening and learning about the client and the issues they like to work on along with the goals that they have for themselves. It is my goal in the first session to help them understand what therapy is and to make them feel comfortable continuing the journey with me.