Eileen Drapiza-Dornan
M.A., MFT Intern, IMF52373
Berkeley
You might be in crisis. You might be contemplating a change (or change might already have you in its grip). You might need someone to help you get back on track. You might need someone to hear what you’ve never before dared to say.
I am trained to help.
My approach is interactive and collaborative, and my style is warm and supportive.
I can be direct, but prefer to be directive only when the situation requires it. My work has a focus on those who are experiencing (or have experienced) grief, trauma, or transition. Sometimes clients may arrive and find that all of these pieces are ripe for work, or choose to focus on only one piece.
You determine the direction, together we will work out a pace.
I believe that clients come with an innate and unconscious plan for their own return to health. I see my role as a facilitator for this process, working to uncover and clarify the plan before proceeding, sometimes offering gentle support and encouragement for those who come already having an idea of the work they would like to do.
Through an evolving process between therapist and client, I work to create safety, and to help clients feel validated and affirmed, and I actively work to help individuals get in touch with their own felt experience (this includes reflecting on the positive as well as the negative), and find the freedom to express whatever comes up.
The following are examples of clients who have sought my help:
- individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, and shame and who might be trapped in unhealthy relationships, yet who are seeking a way to change this dynamic in their lives and to heal from past trauma
- couples seeking to improve their relationship
- individuals contemplating or negotiating life transitions
- adoptive families in crisis or members of the adoptive triad who are struggling to adjust to the changes wrought by adoption
- parents and families struggling with a child who is acting out, perhaps failing at school, and possibly in trouble with the law
- adolescents who have experienced traumatic transitions due to divorce or other losses and who might be hyper sensitive and feel like they “don’t fit in” with their peers
- those suffering from grief through bereavement, or other loss
- those struggling with their own adjustment to disability or chronic illness, or struggling when a loved one is injured, afflicted, or disabled
- those who struggle with issues of cultural identity or loss
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” —Confucius