Guests Danielle Capra LMSW Danielle is a Clinician at a NY residential treatment center that provides clinical services to child and adolescent residents who have suffered child sexual abuse and/or exploitation. Ms. Capra received her BA from Coastal Carolina University, and her MSW from New York University. Ms. Capra has extensive clinical experience working with children on the Autistic spectrum, and children who have been sexually abused and/or commercially sexually exploited. She authored a workbook which helps girls who have been trafficked understand their trauma, while also aiding them on the journey from victim to survivor.
Brian Figueroa LPC Brian is a bilingual clinician at a family and children’s outpatient clinic in Connecticut. His light-hearted approach includes bringing humor to the table of psychotherapy, by helping clients take a moment away from the harshness of reality through instances of levity and laughter. With respect, he understands the importance of being able to appreciate the incongruities of life that we are presented with on a daily basis. For Brian, having the courage to laugh with families is essential to the therapeutic relationship and bringing life to an otherwise difficult process. He utilizes evidence based practices such as TF-CBT and MST as well as non-directive approaches that are client-centered such as play therapies.
Brian was born a first generation Mexican-American and a younger sibling in Yonkers, New York. As a result, he finds himself working closely with Spanish speaking Hispanic families in practice. As a bilingual clinician, he aids families and children work through difficulties such as trauma, depression, anxiety, and parent-child relational issues. Show Notes When have you found yourself thinking, “Who am I to be sitting with this person who has experienced life as I haven’t”? How do we navigate that fine line where we acknowledge our cultural differences, our positionality, all while making efforts to join our client, intending to meet them where they are? In this recent interview, co-host Monica sits down with two psychotherapists, Danielle Capra, LMSW, and Brian Figueroa, LPC, as they take on some awkward moments such as how it feels to explore with a client’s parent how to be a more supportive parent – when it’s apparent you’re not a parent yourself.
In Part 1, our guests discuss how to handle that feeling of inadequacy when being sized up based on our differences, such as being half the age of our client’s parents, or whether we can relate to a military veteran when we’ve never had their experience. We explore how our decision to self-disclose must add value to the client’s work. To what degree does the specific population (e.g. teens or adults) and setting (e.g. outpatient or residential treatment) impact the appropriateness and level of our disclosure as therapists? In the end, our professional training allows our skills to do the talking and our humanness invites our own vulnerability and soft belly into the room, where we can find the words to say, “I’m just here to help”.
The post Episode 14: Danielle and Brian Part 1 appeared first on Practice Imperfect.
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