My Approach to Helping
Hello. My name is Stephen Keenan. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in CA and a blackbelt. This is not about me though...This is about you getting the help you need through a client centered approach that will be tailored toward you reaching your goals in treatment. I use a humanistic, strengths based, supportive therapy approach for solution focused results. Of course, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is key to reframe and kind of see things from a different lens, i.e. Last week a client said "I never thought if it that way", and was more "at ease" by end of our 1st session.
I have spent many years in mental health in Richmond, Oakland, Stockton, and Sacramento areas working in private and county shelters, crisis residentials, inpatient psych units, outpatient day treatment in providing case management groups, and individual therapy. I have medical experience 6 years at UCDAVIS in the ED on weekends and saw trauma, medical, and psychiatric patients with detainment privileges to initiate 5150s. I have worked with poverty striken to affluent. Depressed and suicidal to Angry and homicidal. Geriatric to pediatric. I am confident we can come up with some options in dealing with what you are specifically seeking help with, and if the situation is beyond us, re-refer to the appropriate party.
Firstly, I am not here to judge, but help. I'm pretty laid back, but very direct. I will ask a lot of questions to target in on the areas of concern, allow you to clarify what your treatment goals are, and what you want to get to or have accomplished by treatments end. We will see what we can do in weekly sessions generally from 3 to 6 months, as needed. We bolster what is working and cut down what isn't. "So, you won all the money in the world, you travel and see all the planet's wonders, and buy nice toys, but after that is old....eventually you would come back home and want to give back and do something ""of meaning"".
I haven't won all that money yet, but I can give back and do something of meaning until then." "I have found ""baby steps"" help to build on each consecutive success and get the ball rolling vs ""shooting for the moon"", falling short and feeling like I am not meeting that huge goal day after day. We generally will pick 3 goals for treatment and can modify as needed, or if some goals are no longer an issueresolved, work on additional goals in the time allotted." First session is feeling each other out and mainly the "intake" which is more of a Q&A, then we narrow down what we want to work on, anf every session after that is the more traditional free flowing and working on what is relevant in the moment sessions.