A little bit about Etienne:
I changed careers in my early 30’s. From a chef in the restaurant business to clinical social work attending graduate school at Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work & Social Research in 2005. I believe my life experience prior to entering the therapeutic world has been paramount, giving me awareness and compassion in working with people. As a chef, I focused on nurturing others with food, as a therapist, I focus on empowering and mindfully supporting others through substance abuse & behavioral addictions, traumatic events, life experiences & adjusting to the struggles of daily life.
I have been in the field for almost 15 years working with adults in both inpatient and outpatient settings. I have been blessed to have amazing co-workers and clients over the years and am grateful for these experiences as they have shaped my approach and therapeutic interventions used with clients. I learn with each individual I work with, specifically about compassion, empathy and being present for others human experiences.
I use multiple modalities in therapy: Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy and I am EMDR trained & certified with EMDRIA (EMDR International Association). I have also recently just trained in BrainSpotting, another approach to resolving trauma.
I am a firm believer that trauma shapes a persons world view, can cause chaos in within relationships, coping, and the ability to manage daily stress. We as humans cope with trauma in various ways and traditional talk therapy is not always an appropriate or effective method to process trauma. EMDR is an evidenced based treatment for trauma, anxiety and many other behavioral health experience.