Allison Nordlinger, LCSW-C
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As a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW-C) in practice for nearly twenty years, I have had the opportunity and privilege to work collaboratively with clients to help them develop greater insight into their relationships, communication patterns, and limiting narratives.
For more than a decade I have worked in private practice. Previously, I have had experience working in an intensive outpatient program (IOP), school setting, and community mental health agency. I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology from The University of Michigan and a Master of Social Work degree from the National Catholic School of Social Service. As a native Washingtonian, I have been able to cultivate a network of colleagues across disciplines with whom I collaborate as needed including psychiatrists, pediatricians, and nutritionists.
I have found that while there are a number of factors that make therapy "successful," the most important one is the client. It takes courage, commitment, and vulnerability to get the most out of therapy. My approach includes a collaborative client-therapist relationship, which emphasizes the client’s strengths and insights and is often based upon a balance of hard work and humor.
¨ I believe that everyone has the capacity for change, growth, and healing, especially in the presence of a practitioner who is able to hold an attuned, non-judgmental, and containing safe space¨.
I think of psychotherapy as the practice of engaging in training and healing the mind through a relational experience with a mental health professional. I believe that everyone has the capacity for change, growth, and healing, especially in the presence of a practitioner who is able to hold an attuned, non-judgmental, and containing safe space.
The therapy relationship is unique in that it can provide unbiased, private, and objective support and feedback unlike that of someone who is interwoven into the fabric of one’s life. Individual clients often have specific goals for psychotherapy. Additionally, there are some universal core therapy goals that many of us share:
Expanding, strengthening, and increasing flexibility of the mind
Enlarging the mind’s capacity to deepen awareness and gain insight into conscious and unconscious thoughts and behaviors
Working through the ability to be uncomfortable and experience distress while maintaining mental clarity and confidence
Letting go of limiting narratives or stories (fears) that have eroded self-worth and replacing them with new, more accurate, and radically accepting beliefs
Taking time and space to develop new skills, habits, and mindsets that allow for more joy, peace, and freedom