Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pre Marital Counseling. Why Its Important!


Erin Morey, LMFT, LLC


ABOUT ERIN-

I am a licensed marriage and family therapist through the state of Virginia and the District of Columbia. I hold a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and have completed Doctorate-level coursework in Marriage and Family Therapy. I am a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a member of both the Middle Atlantic Division of the AAMFT and the Virginia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Further, I am a Certified Prepare/Enrich Counselor, a program designed with an assessment to help couples prepare for marriage and/or improve their relationships. I also volunteer as a Provider for Give an Hour, a non-profit organization providing free mental health services to U.S. troops and their families.

Experience

I have provided family systems therapy to individuals, couples, and families for five years. I specialize in premarital and newly married couples however, for the past two years, my practice has focused largely on working with couples to enrich their relationships at all stages. My experience includes assisting couples to improve their communication skills, problem solving skills, conflict-resolution, emotional reactivity, trust following infidelity or substance abuse, stress management, intimacy, and emotional connectedness.

I have also conducted individual and group therapeutic services with students and their families in three local high schools in Virginia. My experience with therapeutic services cover a variety of clinical problems such as trauma, anxiety, individual psychological problems, relationship problems, behavior problems, school truancy, substance abuse, job readiness, and child-parent problems, just to name a few. I worked with limited closeness to school staff such as guidance counselors, teachers, security, school nurse, and administrators to effectively assist students while at the same time strongly upholding their rights to confidential services.

In the past, I have worked as a family counselor, for Youth Villages, a non-profit agency providing home-based therapy to adolescents and their families in Washington, DC. I used systemic models of therapy to include empirically-based Multisystemic Therapy (MST) to provide intensive home-based services. I developed and implemented interventions to focus on the family, child, school, community, and peer groups. I worked to creatively combine structural and strategic models of treatment with the MST model to adequately provide interventions which are more parent-focused bringing change throughout the family, school, community, and peers. I worked hard to assist at-risk youth who presented with concerns such as trauma, teen pregnancy, runaway behaviors, drug abuse, crime, violence, illegal behaviors, truancy, parent-adolescent conflict, psychological disorders such as depression, Bipolar disorder, suidical ideation, parental separation and divorce, stepfamily issues, legal involvement, and out-of-home placements. I worked collaboratively with all community service providers involved with the client to work in the best interest of each child and family.

Before this very challenging work, I held two internships in Connecticut working as a marriage and family therapist intern.

Education and Training

I hold a Master of Arts degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fairfield University in Connecticut. I also hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a double major in Communication and Media Studies from Fordham University in New York. Following my master education, I completed three Doctoral courses, “Families in Crisis”, “Play Therapy and Family Therapy with Children”, and “Family Therapy and Psychopathology” from Northcentral University.

I have completed trainings in Multisystemic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, which have added to the training I had already received in my bachelors and masters education. I have trained and become certified as a Prepare/Enrich Counselor to fully meet the needs of couples and families in today’s society. Further, I have been trained to administer, score, and clinically interpret the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI), which allows me to determine the next level and type of care necessary to adequately treat or support a client (adolescent or adult) who presents with a substance use problem, substance abuse problem, or a substance dependence problem. Other trainings include, but are not limited to, learning and implementing alternative parenting strategies to physical discipline, and treating clients presenting with intellectual disabilities. I continually attend trainings as I believe in the importance of completing trainings regularly to stay knowledgeable and effective in the ever-changing field of therapy.

Approaches to Counseling-
I believe in the importance of approaching treatment with you uniquely as you and your specific situation is unique.
I work to not align with one person, rather I focus on the system (i.e. family, couple) to assess where the patterns are going wrong, how the problems are being maintained in that system, and where the patterns can be interrupted or altered for positive changes.
I work hard to assist in the repairing and reconnecting that may save your relationship.
I work realistically and respect your perspectives. If repair and reconnecting is found to not be possible, I will work with you through the appropriate next steps for all involved.





Website-http://www.erinmorey.com/
Contact Erin-Email: erin@erinmorey.com
Phone: 240.565.5264


Address

1313 Vincent Place

McLean, Virginia 22101

I want to share this very important information to newly engaged couples and newlyweds and ofcourse all others.Since I work in the Wedding Business, my desire is that everyone gets off to a wonderful 2010! I hope you all enjoy the following Information.
P.S. Erin Morey is truly Wonderful! You have my word.
Hugz,
Lori

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