DK Therapy has grown in the past few months and we would like to give you the opportunity to get to know a little more about our therapists, what challenges their clients face, and what it would be like to work with them.
At DK, we focus on your comfort within the therapy office. We hope that knowing a bit about your therapist before your first visit, helps you make a connection even before meeting them.
Without further ado…
What experiences have brought you to the helping profession?
Dana:
Two things brought me to work as a helping professional.
One of my earliest memories was going to volunteer with my mom at our local soup kitchen on the holidays. It was something that we did every year as a family and it left a big impression on me. I was raised in a family that was very Catholic and both sets of my grandparents were immigrants from Europe and relied on help from the Catholic Church and other social service institutions in order to make it in America. I don’t always agree with the politics of the Catholic Church, but the importance of giving back has always stuck with me.
Dana Norden, LSW
The other major factor was that my mother was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and died when I was 10 years old. My father, much to his credit, had me meet with a child psychologist weekly from the ages of 10-18. Dr. Linda helped me work through my grief, normalized what I was feeling, and was a constant source of encouragement for me. She always used to say, “Dana, the sky’s the limit!” And that is what has led me down this career path.
Why do you think it’s important for people to participate in therapy?
Dana:
I think that it is important for people to participate in therapy, even if they haven’t gone through traumatic events in their life, because everyone at some point has felt not good enough, has felt misunderstood, or has just felt different. It’s important to talk about those feelings, process them, and know you are not alone in feeling this way. Therapy can help clients gain some skills and understanding as to how to tackle emotional obstacles that will cross theirs path in the future.
What is a therapy session like with you?
Dana:
A therapy session with me is typically divided in two parts. The first part is checking in with the client and gaining an understanding of what has been coming up for them throughout the week and discussing whatever issues are on their mind. The second part is me providing skills and tools to the client in order to empower them in order to reconstruct their lives as they see fit. Some of the skills and tools can be yoga and breathing exercises, CBT/ACT strategies to help with cognitive reframing, IFS approaches for dealing with trauma, or Gottman tools for communication and increasing emotional intimacy, all with the purpose of increasing your resilience and psychological flexibility.
