Jamie Finkelstein

I graduated with my Masters in clinical counseling from the University of Northern Colorado in 2014. In that time, I was not only prepared educationally, but I was also prepared clinically due to my program, having an N program counseling service that allowed me to prepare for face-to-face, one on one clinical counseling before I even graduated.

After graduating I was offered a job from my internship, and I immediately started working for my community mental health center. When working in my first job at my community mental health center I was able to diagnose and work with many different people. I was also able to provide and run group services that allowed people to focus specifically on dialectical behavioral therapy skills. Since then I have been working in many different settings, including community mental health for seven years, and online therapy for three years. In total, I have been providing care to my clients for 10 years. In that time I have developed my skill set using dialectical behavioral therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy as my main modalities to treat a plethora of clinical diagnosis. I also subscribe to a client centered approach so that the client feels at the center of the treatment plan and course of progress. I also specialize in LGBTQ therapeutic approaches and pride myself in my inclusion of all populations.

My approach to therapy in a virtual setting is to make sure that each client is comfortable and informed when it comes to the treatment that they are going to be provided. I want to allow the client time to feel established, and also understand that they are in control when it comes to their treatment. I understand that virtual therapy platforms are still fairly new, and take some time to get used to. I pride myself on making contact with each client as much as I possibly can, and allowing them the time and space to become comfortable in disclosing information. I also try to use organization as much as I can to allow the client to understand expectations clearly. I tend to use "a focus of the week" to be able to teach a skill each week and implement that skill into our therapeutic sessions. I have seen that this is helpful in allowing the client to feel like they are progressing each week and are able to leave therapy with a toolbox full of skills.

I am so thankful to be able to access the online therapy platforms to allow treatment to be distributed to more people that are in need. I am looking forward to being able to work on this platform and get to know each individual client and their needs so that a treatment plan can be created that will allow success and effectiveness to be achieved.