Hi, I'm Whit.
Whit Davison (she/hers)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
I learned long ago that every person has a story, and the greatest privilege I have as a therapist is being able to help my clients rewrite theirs in a way that no longer hurts them or weighs them down.
If you're like most of my clients, you would describe your inner world as one or more of the following:
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Your mind never shuts off, and most attempts to find some peace fail. You may regularly turn to not-so-healthy coping mechanisms just to get a break.
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You've tried to do things "right" your entire life, and yet are somehow always getting it "wrong." Even when you try to change the pattern, you end up back in the same place.
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You feel like things aren't really that bad and you shouldn't feel this way. But, you do.
Together, we can figure this out.
My Approach to Therapy
Goal-focused but flexible; good for thinkers who hate to feel
I offer goal-focused therapy for severe anxiety, complex trauma, and dissociation
I specialize in severe anxiety, trauma and complex trauma (CPTSD), and dissociative disorders. These areas are often misdiagnosed as borderline personality disorder (BPD) or bipolar disorder (I and II), so I technically specialize in BPD and bipolar as well. I do not exclude clients based on personal history, past diagnoses, history of suicidality, or history of self-harm. If you want to do the work, I want to work with you.
During your first appointment, the intake assessment, we will establish your goals for therapy, and I keep those goals as our focus throughout treatment. However, our work each session is flexible and based on both present issues and your long-term goals.
We might start out talking about the pizza you had for dinner, but might end up talking about your childhood, your ex, your body image, your finances...the paths are endless, but all lead to your specific goals. I will work with you to balance immediate concerns with long-term progress so that we are consistently moving forward instead of stumbling from crisis to crisis.
Bad jokes make good coping.
I like to add humor to my work, or at least crack terrible jokes at bad times. If you're coming to therapy, it is because things are hard. But that doesn't mean we can't also laugh at ourselves and fate. It's a great coping mechanism.
How Therapy With Me is Different
Using my skills and your knowledge of you to get to a new place.
Therapy with me is good for those who overthink everything and hate to have feelings.
There are lots of approaches to solving mental health problems, and the ones I use are all thought and behavior based (as opposed to somatic approaches, which are based in the body). Basically, if you think about therapeutic yoga, work with me is the opposite of that. We sit and talk about your shit until you feel better. Between sessions, you notice thoughts or change behaviors and we see what effect that has on your shit. Repeat until healed!
Treatment Modalities
I use a mix of cognitive therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, motivational interviewing, and old-fashioned talk therapy (officially known as psychodynamic psychotherapy). This is a logic-based approach based in the understanding that the thoughts we have, the words we use, and the stories we tell ourselves create our reality. Symptoms come from the gaps or internal conflicts within those stories, leading all the way from "I was always told I was 'too much'" to "Different parts of me that do not agree on what's going on in here."
I follow Judith Herman's three-step approach to trauma treatment: establish emotional safety, identify and process traumas impacting functioning and sense of self, and move forward into building a healthy life.
You are the explorer. I am carrying the compass.
You are the expert in you. I cannot tell you, "do this and you will be fixed!" Most of my clients have been told who they "should be" or how to feel for most of their lives, and I am not interested in contributing to that ongoing invalidation.
I am following you into your particular Heart of Darkness. I do, however, have a compass and an outline of a map, because I have been on this path myself and alongside other clients.