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Hello, My name is Dr. Benedicte Last (PSY 30089). I practice clinical psychology in California. As a therapist, I support you in your journey toward the life you envision for yourself. In that process, we may process and heal the trauma that is holding you in the past, help you add or strengthen the tools to take care of yourself in the present, and in doing so, support you in laying the foundation of your future.
My approach
In therapy, I use the theoretical approach that works for you. At times that could be psychodynamics, in which you work on understanding your emotions and unconscious patterns of behaviors. At other times we could work with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprogramming, or visualization techniques or hypnosis. If possible, we also laugh and play.
My focus
I work mostly with people who have gone through traumatic experiences or who are going through big transitions in their life, either physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I also work with people who have had spiritual, psychic, or extraordinary experiences, and who want to make sense out of these experiences.
My communication style
It is most important in therapy that you feel comfortable in a session. This is your work, your journey, and I will support you on that journey with all the tools that I have at my disposal. It is important that we can laugh and cry and talk and, at times, be silent together.
My journey to mental healthcare
As an immigrant from the Netherlands, I lived in California for 30 years. As a single mother, grandmother, pastor, therapeutic horse riding instructor, coach, school counselor, and therapist, I learned and relearned over and over again how important it is to find your enthusiasm for the dance of life. I practiced this while going to Grad School in San Francisco and by working in schools and in my private practice. I currently live on a small farm in New Mexico and practice online, supported by my partner, cats, dog, chickens, alpacas,pigsg,s and goats.
My goals for you
Goal setting is something we do together. You may bring a goal to your first session, and I may suggest an enhancement or not. It is something we may do frequently or just at the beginning of our work together. Over the course of sessions, I may occasionally remind you of the goal you set at the beginning of our work and show you the progress you have made. The most important underlying goal in life may be to find your enthusiasm (again).
My first session with you
In our first session, I may ask you a lot of questions, the main one being: What brings you to therapy?‚ From there, I may ask you about your history, the family you grew up in, and the family you may have created. I would like to know who and what is important to you. And, of course, I will ask: What is your goal?‚ I will also explain about the possibilities of therapy, what tools I have in my tool belt, and how we together pick what modality would work best for you in each given session.
