Journey to Equanimity
Counseling & Consulting LLC
About Dr. Sophie Oswin
Hello and welcome to my webpage.
I commend you for making the first step toward wellness by having the courage to seek out
help.
Are you finding yourself struggling with feeling down, having racing thoughts,
or
maintaining regularity in your sleep and eating?
Are you experiencing sadness, shame,
difficulty concentrating, or social isolation?
I believe that these symptoms can be
treated
in the context of therapy where I will help you meet realistic and personalized goals to
you.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and have over 7 years of experience providing
counseling for diverse individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD,
schizophrenia, eating disorders, and general and severe mental health problems.
Change
can
only happen in relationship; and I provide counseling which is supportive, compassionate,
and dedicated to guiding you to achieve personal wellness.
My approach is collaborative and strength-based. It
is my goal to work with you in a safe and supportive atmosphere where I will help you learn
skills to manage difficult emotions, maintain and strengthen your relationships, and thrive
in the many areas of your life.
I enjoy working with clients of diverse racial, ethnic, religious, cultural backgrounds and
other identifying factors, appreciating our differences and knowing that they make us
stronger. I am passionate about advocating for social equality and inclusion, in the form of
access to resources on the individual and community level as well as advocacy on the public
and political levels.
In addition to my counseling work, I am a Counselor Educator, Supervisor, and Researcher. I
have taught and assisted in teaching internship and practicum courses, and law and ethics
courses for students in Masters of Mental Health Counseling Programs. My research interests
are in psychedelic assisted psychotherapies, current usage of virtual reality and artificial
intelligence in counseling, religious and spiritual integration in counselor education and
supervision, and suicide assessment and intervention in counselor education and supervision.
My Services
Individual Counseling
Therapeutic Approach
I provide clinical mental health counseling to individuals in and around
Atlanta, Georgia. I also provide tele-health counseling appointments via phone
and video for clients who reside in Georgia. Please read below to see the
specialty populations of clients whom I work with, and the theoretical
approaches I ascribe to.
Speciality Populations & Issues
In my counseling practice, I primarily work with clients who are 18+ years old
and who are struggling with problems related to depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD,
dissociative identity disorder, borderline personality disorder, and eating
disorders. I provide a warm and non-judgmental space wherein clients feel
respected, heard, and appreciated. I work collaboratively with you to create an
individualized plan for change in your life, with the goal of achieving
meaningful and lasting change. I welcome the opportunity to work with clients
from various social, cultural, racial, and other identity backgrounds, promoting
an environment of respect and appreciating that differences make us stronger. I
welcome clients who are Christian and Catholic, as well as all the religious and
spiritual backgrounds.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
I ascribe to the CBT model for therapy, wherein I conceptualize how thoughts,
emotions, behaviors, and physical sensations all work together in creating
happiness and meaning in our lives, or depression, anxiety, and dysfunction. I
strive to empower my clients to utilize their unique gifts and strengths to
effectively influence the areas of their life where they experience problems.
The thoughts we have about the various situations in our life influence our
emotional experience. Because no two people are the same, I tailor the specific
tools and techniques depending on your concerns and goals. My goal in using CBT
is for you to see change in your life as soon as possible, to give you hope, to
build your self-esteem, to help you develop a rational thought-process, and give
you skills to thrive in the many areas of your life!
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
I use many tools and techniques from DBT, which is a therapeutic model that
emphasizes balancing change in thoughts, emotions, and behavior with validation,
mindfulness, acceptance, and emotion regulation. DBT teaches many tools which
assist clients to increase interpersonal success in relationships as well as
tolerate the many difficult emotions we might experience on a day-to-day basis.
I find DBT to be especially helpful for clients who struggle with regulating
intense emotions.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
I provide ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) in partnership with a ketamine clinic
nearby my private practice. KAP is a dissociative anesthetic, and pseudo-psychedelic, which
has been shown to treat a variety of mental health problems including depression, anxiety,
trauma, and other conditions. I partner with Invictus Clinic who provides access to a
physician who will provide a 40 minute-1-hour long ketamine infusion. Typically, a full
treatment is 6 infusions over 2-3 weeks. The ketamine-assisted psychotherapy I provide
typically occurs the hour immediately following each ketamine infusion.
3 Stage Model of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy:
Following the most current research on ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (Dore et al., 2019),
I use a 3-stage model including preparation, administration, and integration
1. Preparation
Once you reach out to myself or to Invictus Clinic, to inquire about ketamine
infusions and accompanying psychotherapy, I will meet with you in-person or
virtually to discuss what brought you to consider ketamine treatment, and work
collaboratively on your treatment goals. The goal of this stage includes
answering all of your questions, developing trust, exploring presenting issues,
and goals and intentions for your ketamine experience. During the preparation
stage, you will also meet with the Invictus Clinic physician in-person or
virtually so that you can have all of your questions answered and build a sense
of trust and working alliance.
3. Integration
The integration phase is the stage at which we will meet for counseling together
which typically occurs the hour immediately following the infusion. I will meet
you at the Invictus Clinic once you have completed your infusion. During this
process, I want to create a warm and supportive environment for you to process
your ketamine experience and any insights you gained. I also help you connect
your current goals and intentions to your ketamine experience. This process may
include tools such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery,
or journaling.
2. Experience
The second stage is the administration or experience stage, wherein you will
come into the ketamine clinic for your infusion. As stated previously, the
infusion is typically 40-45 minutes, and a full-treatment includes 6 infusions
over roughly 2-3 weeks. Clients are provided the infusion in a warm and
welcoming clinic space. Typically, eye shades and calming and/or meditation
music can be played. The physician will check in with you periodically
throughout the infusion. Once the infusion is completed, you will be monitored
for about 15 minutes, and from here, a loved one/family member may take you
home. Alternatively, some clients arrange for other transportation home. Because
this is a substance, clients must not drive immediately following the infusion.
Clinical Supervision
I also provide clinical supervision for counselors seeking professional counseling licensure
in the state of Georgia.
Overview: Welcome to supervision!
I commend you for reaching this point in your academic and professional career.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Approved Clinical Supervisor and I
currently supervise counselors who have graduated from their master's program
and are seeking licensure in the state of Georgia. The supervision I provide
meets the requirements as designated by the Board of Professional Counselors,
Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists. I provide supervision at my
private practice office for in-person meetings and virtually through video
appointments.
I provide clinical supervision of mental health counselors who are working with
several aspects of mental illness, but I have particular experience in the
fields of depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, psychosis, eating disorders, and
mental health crisis. I have experience in the private practice, psychiatric
hospital, agency, and community settings with adults and adolescents.
Supervision Process
My anticipated supervision process with you will include providing an effective
supervision space wherein you continue to emerge as a capable and grounded
practitioner (Bernard & Goodyear, 2019). In the first 5-10 minutes of the
session, we will do a check in, wherein we discuss how the week has been and
what we plan on doing during our time together. We will then discuss your
current client cases. I will also review client case notes and other
documentation, and/or recorded client sessions as appropriate throughout our
time working together. We will close each supervision session with reflections
on the meeting and ensuring that all documentation is up to date.
My Supervision Model & Approach
My role as the supervisor will be to increase and develop your proficiencies in
clinical work (Bernard & Goodyear, 2019). My goal is to guide your clinical work
so as to increase positive therapeutic behaviors and help you decrease unhelpful
behaviors. I also plan on assisting you in increasing your self-confidence and
autonomy. I will be monitoring and ensuring the welfare of your clients that are
seen by you. I will work to promote your professional counselor identity and
competence.
I approach the supervision process using the Discrimination Model of
supervision. The Discrimination Model allows for the supervisor to adopt various
roles of teacher, consultant, and counselor in order to provide the optimal
learning environment for your growth and professional development (Timm, 2015).
I plan on taking on the teaching role when I will instruct and educate you on a
counseling matter. I plan to use the counseling role in order to help you
process what is occurring in your counseling sessions. As time progresses, I
hope that you will gain more confidence and autonomy in your counseling
endeavors, during which time I will likely take on a consulting or mentorship
role.
Session Fees and Length of Service
One (1) clock hour of individual supervision will take place at my office or
virtually based on the day and time we agree on. The Georgia Board requires 30
clock hours of clinical supervision per one year of directed experience. The fee
is $150.00 per (1) one clock hour of individual supervision. I accept cash,
check, and credit card for payment. I also provide a sliding scale option should
$150.00 per session feel unsustainable. Please request a sliding scale form if
you are interested in this option.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept Insurance?
I do not accept health insurance; I am an out-of-network provider. I work within a private pay
model. Clients may pay for each individual session through credit card, cash, or check.
Why don't you contract with an insurance company?
I operate through the private pay model for several important reasons: I do not want to share
information regarding our work together with insurance companies in order to protect your
privacy. Secondly, for an insurance company to cover our work together, a diagnosis is required,
which is not appropriate for all the clients which I work with. Thirdly, if I choose to use a
therapeutic technique or tool in sessions which I believe would be the most helpful for you,
they may choose not to reimburse for that session. Finally, it's important that my clients and I
work collaboratively together to control the frequency of our sessions, which is often dictated
by the insurance company if I was an in-network provider.
What is the cost for an individual session?
The per session fee is $150 dollars. This is the fee for both individual sessions as well as
ketamine-assisted psychotherapy sessions. Clients whom are interested in doing ketamine
infusions will also pay Invictus Clinic separately for their services.
It is my goal to ensure that my clients feel they can sustainably pay for sessions, therefore I
provide a sliding scale option as well. In these cases, I provide a form to clients which
prompts
them to fill out their income and expenditure, and we will come up with a fee that works for
both of us.
Do you provide counseling for minors?
Counselors who choose to work with minors have high levels of specialized skill. While I have
experience working with clients who are under 16 years old, I typically refer to a highly
trained child counselor. I am currently taking clients who are 17+.
Can you counsel me if I live outside of Georgia?
No. My counseling license allows for me to only work with clients who reside in the state of
Georgia. The Counseling Compact is an interstate compact or contract between states to allow
counselors to be able to practice in other states without the need to be licensed in that state.
The Counseling Compact is not yet in effect, but I am hopeful that in 2024 or 2025, counselors
may be able to see clients in other states than they are licensed.
Client Portal
The client portal enables you to request an appointment. If you are a current client, you may
log in here and view and sign paperwork, pay a bill, or meet virtually using the Simple Practice
software.
Access it here :
Intake Paperwork
Contact Me
Interested in services?
I am accepting new clients for individual counseling & Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy.
I am accepting new supervisees. If you are interested, please complete the fields below.