A New Focus

"Listen-are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?" -M. Oliver Hi, thanks for stopping by. It's good to talk, to connect a bit. I'm Rosanna Cordova, and have the honor of being a Social Worker here in Albuquerque, NM. As a part of this, I provide therapy for people of all-ages in-person both at my office and also via telehealth. Though I began working many years ago with Survivors of Sexual Assualt and their families, I went on to train in play therapy, and have since become certified in TF-CBT. This is a type of therapy that supports those under 18-years of age in healing not only from trauma--also from anxiety, depression, and a variety of ailments which at present both the AMA, CDC and APA continue to inform health providers and the general public we are seeing reach alaming levels since the Covid-19 pandemic. This is considered to be the most effective of the evidence-based therapies we know to treat this age group, and has been seen to be effective even with groups recovering from sex-trafficking and those children who are refugees. Powerful and a therapy which can be completed, if caregivers are engaged, in ~12 weeks. Of therapies I have seen and learned to support childen, this works fastest, engages families and has a lengthy record of evidence-based outcomes seeing lengthy recovery periods for the children it reaches. I'm proud and humbled to offer it at my practice as there are quite literally a handful of providers in town offering this despite it being endorsed and sought out by NM State as a cutting edge treatment-- it would like more providers to treat with this based on efficacy (please see https://tfcbt.org for more information!). My central treatment scope lands with the following: PTSD, depression, anxiety, body-focused repetitive behaviors, trichotillomania, OCD and specific phobia. The work which I "ve done with adults is based on what each one brings into the room--as each is the expert of their own life/experiences, while I strive to be the evolving expert of a field which is ever changing and to provide this foundational knowledge of this field--with a specific focus in the schools of Existentialism and CBT techniques. As a part of our work with one another, I see my purpose as working to promote your well-being. We will create meaningful, alongside realistic goals for your time in therapy to reduce the symptoms and behaviors that brought you to see me. We will do this also including your strengths, not simply what "isn't working" in your life. That's simply not original, and my guess is that the material of what is not going well has been hashed, rehashed, done and dusted by this point. So,, let's work to take a new look at the landscape, yeah? Though you perhaps could, and maybe have been doing this alone? You don't have to anymore. Thanks again for stopping by! I've been fortunate to have great mentors who took time I (now) realize they VERY likely did not have (not too many "freed up for lots of questions" social workers, you come to learn!) and turned around the ladder and held it stably as they ensured I was able to climb up and learn, and become a caring and compassionate social worker, too. I often heard a push to work to be a "good enough" social worker from these sage teachers, to explore ideas about taking care of the self, as to preserve a career where we know the average worker stays for ~7 years based on current statistics. That can mean doing the art we encourage you dear clients to do, taking vacations ourselves, ending sessions (regularly on time), and showing you that when we say "no" this can be a great act of caring. We know, too, that Social Workers are retiring and quitting faster since 2019 than we can replace them, and some if not much of this is due to stressors brought on with the ongoing mental health crisis throughout the US. Though in private practice, I continue to mentor and complete the circle that some special mentors began with me. As years pass by, a constant remains in finding my world filled with verbs: read, connect, unlearn, laugh, listen, play, cycle, yoga with my pups (and sometimes the cat!), landscape, LEGOS, spend time with friends, family and her loved ones. I'm the daughter of a USMC Vietnam Veteran, and am a thankful to the five generations of my family who have served in the US Military. Please know I offer a discount for students, new and old therapists, military (past and current). If you are a social worker and have a client who is marginalized and living in oppression, and living in poverty, please reach out to me about pro-bono work and services, per our preamble. I am indebted, joyfully, to Erin A. Nolan., LCSW, who for 6 years provided mentorship to me in a busy local mental health clinic where I first served as a play therapist, then a BMS Program Supervisor seeing family units, and lastly a Clinical Supervisor. I'd be remiss to not extend gratitude to Bruce Balto, USMC, LISW, DCSW, who I met in 2015 and changed the trajectory of my clinical work. It was under his tutelage I learned the cornerstones of not only play therapy, but also existentialism and insight-oriented work. As a new provider finding my way, it was of much meaning to be trained so comprehensively and by someone in the field for multiple decades. It's due to these two varied experiences of being in relationship and being mentored that I did continue mentoring, despite initial reservations (nerves!) Again--if are in search of a Supervisor, please know that I offer fees that are incredibly feasible during both your internship and post-graduate years. Reach out. As an overview--I provide therapy services to all ages and am trained in Experiential Play Therapy, as well as Child-Centered Play Therapy, however, she has a National Accreditation in Trauma Focused CBT and after undergoing this extensive training and coming to learn this is one of the best tools we have in an evidence-based way to treat both children and adolescents, this is now my preferred treatment modality. And yet--each one of us is different. Carl Jung spoke of "for each client, a new treatment," and Dr. Pinkola Estes states in her "Dangerous Old Woman series, "we need a new psychology." I heartily agree here, and at the time of this writing, there is not a person alive who is not bearing some weight, carrying daily with them, the collective trauma of having endured (and perhaps baring survivors guilt for living when those they loved did not) the ravaging to our earth by Covid-19. My work and my hope are to hear, to truly, truly hear, what is at the root of your distress--and encourage you to become curious about it. When did it start? Why do you think you reached out now--after living with these symptoms and distress bravely, having been silent all these days/months/years? Who do you believe yourself to be and why? How do you feel about that and if you are talking to 80 year old you--how does that exchange go? Is it lament filled, scathing? Or, one in which you greet the other with great delight--so pleased to share in a talk about the decades between and be offered this chance for opportunity for some supportive guidance from "older you"? I'm convinced you have all the tools you need for this journey of deep and meaningful work. Again, I see my main job as to elevating your well-being and serving as someone much like a "fellow traveler" as you embark on this path . . . With new intention and sharper focus. All aspects of a new way of being with the self I can aide you in working toward as you edit the current story which you carry ("no one likes me, "I'm not worth the effort, "It's all my fault,") as we diligently work to inspect this sometimes decades-old story and gently craft it into one more fitting, kind and reflective of the life you are truly existing in, or have been working very, very hard to. It would be an honor to get to meet with you and talk a little about the way you feel now, and the hopes you have for the way you would LIKE to feel. It can be done. It can be done by you.