Leslie Worley

"There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." - Nelson Mandela I believe therapy is truly a collaborative effort for healing. You are the expert and the therapist is a conduit. I’m a licensed social worker committed to helping people learn how to live by their values instead of letting emotions and thoughts control their lives. My work focuses on targeting ineffective behaviors, habits, and beliefs and transforming them into effective ways of living that brings people in touch their values. In life, we will always experience a full spectrum of emotions, it's all in our reactions to those emotions in which we build a life we're excited about. In my practice, I will never ask the person sitting across from me to do something I myself have not done. Meaning, I live my life by my therapy approaches and don't just use them as an "intervention." I also use a lot of humor, direct and transparent communication. Personally, I love dogs (have two of my own), reading, painting and engaging in sports or exercise! If you’re interested in scheduling a consultation with me, please send an appointment request. ** I currently only accept BC/BS insurances. For all other insurance I can provide a Superbill in which you can submit to your insurance company and be reimbursed for some of the session fee** About My Approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a third wave therapy approach. ACT emphasizes mindfulness, acceptance, and values in helping clients to stop avoiding, denying and struggling with their inner emotions and moves people toward accepting these emotions in order to move forward in their lives. Through this, people begin to accept (not to be confused with approval or forgiveness) their issues and live instead moving toward their commitments and values. Research has shown that ACT is an effective treatment for many psychological issues. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) - Contextually Focused* Dialectics, at its core, is two opposing truths existing together and creating a new combined truth. An example is, "I am feel depressed and I can still do things I enjoy." DBT emphasizes the dialectic of acceptance and change in improving the quality of people’s lives. There are four modules of DBT: Mindfulness, Distress Management, Emotional Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. There is a huge misconception that DBT does not process /address trauma - it does, it just goes about it in a different way than traditional trauma therapy. Contextually focused DBT combines ACT and DBT for a beautiful blend of highly effective treatment. Mindfulness/raising present moment awareness are core components of both modalities. With a Contextually focused DBT therapist, clients will receive the benefit of learning skills, while also defusing from aversive thoughts, examining behaviors/reactions in context and challenging current "solutions" to the problem/issue. *Contextually focused DBT was created by Dr. Paul Holmes Psychology Today Profile: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/921994