We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Gilbert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Stephanie , thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
This is such an important question in so many ways. Resilience is often born out of struggle, and I’m very aware that in our society we compliment resilience rather than acknowledge the traumas/struggles someone has had no choice in going through. Resilience is often the only way out.
For me, the reason I became a therapist is because of my own mental health struggles when I was younger. It made such a difference in my life, I don’t think I would be where I am today if I hadn’t had access to mental health care resources. Through my own work in therapy, I learned to be more resilient in the present. Taking care of myself, both physical and mental health, creates more resilience to cope with issues that arise. I’m also very grateful that I have a career I’m both passionate about and feel purpose in doing – that also helps me stay resilient. Believe me when I say I use the skills from therapy in my everyday life as well to build more resilience! And taking time to spend with family and friends, take time for self care, keeping up with hobbies and other interests – all help me stay resilient.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I own my private practice, Stephanie Gilbert and Associates, LLC where I see clients and supervise other clinicians. My practice is open to anyone living in California, and between all of our clinicians we have many different specialities including individual, teen, and couples counseling and also offer therapy in English, Spanish, and Russian. For more information about myself or any of our another clinicians, you can visit stephaniegilbertmft.com or follow me on instagram at @stephaniegilbertmft.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Three qualities I’ve found most important in my journey are empathy, flexibility, and curiosity. I would encourage anyone wanting to build these qualities to ask more questions, truly listen to others, and always keep in mind that just because we plan for something to happen a certain way doesn’t mean we have control over it happening.
How would you describe your ideal client?
Great question! My specialities include anxiety, OCD, depression, and eating disorders. I’m a Beck Institute CBT Certified Clinician and EMDR trained. CBT is fantastic for working with issues of low self esteem or negative thinking patterns in addition to issues of anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. I also use ERP (exposure response prevention) for OCD treatment, and find telehealth services work really well because I can be wherever the person needs to be while completely their exposure work. Rather than just talking about exposures in session, I can be there as someone completed the exposure, providing real time support. EMDR is used primarily for trauma work, and I usually integrate that as needed into sessions. I offer complimentary 15 min consultations, and while I don’t accept insurance in my practice, I can provide super bills.
Contact Info:
- Website: stephaniegilbertmft.com
- Instagram: @stephaniegilbertmft
- Facebook: @stephaniegilbertmft
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-gilbert-lmft-bicbt-cc-7887638b/
Image Credits
Kate Haus
