Welcome!
Welcome! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to look at my Blog. I wanted to start off by welcoming you to my page and wanted to take this opportunity for you all to get to know me a little better.
My name is Leslie Wiekamp. I am a Marriage and Family Therapy Intern. I work in a Private Practice in Newport Beach, Ca, under the direct supervision of Deeann Peterson, LMFT. I received my Bachelors Degree from Cal State Long Beach, in Psychology. I then received my Masters in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Azusa Pacific University. Some of you may be familiar with what MFT's do, others may have heard of it and some might not have a clue. So what do MFT's do?
An MFT is a relationship expert. They work with individuals on their interpersonal relationships. They use therapeutic techniques, assessments, and other diagnostic tools to assess, diagnose and treat individuals, couples, children, and families. You may be asking yourself, well how can an MFT help me? I don't have a relationship problem, I just suffer from anxiety. As humans we are wired for human interaction. Therefore, everything that we do affects our interpersonal relationships. For example, your anxiety may prevent you from going certain places with a loved one, meeting new people, going to your spouses favorite concert, or dating in general. Our interpersonal relationships can be affected by depression, anxiety, anger, abuse, drugs, alcohol, familial discourse, boundary related issues, and other mental health illnesses. Therefore, MFT's help with a wide range of issues focusing on improving the individual, couples, child or family's interpersonal relationships so that they can live a more satisfying and productive life.
Each MFT is different in the way that they approach therapy. Each has their specialties and the way that they view the individual, couple, family or child. Personally, I focus much of my work on boundaries. Boundaries are needed in every relationship. Boundaries are the rules and the guidelines that we set for ourselves that tell others how they can interact with us. Clear boundaries allow for clear communication where each party knows where they stand. We get into trouble when we find ourselves having difficulty saying no, feeling guilt after making a decision, feeling like a "doormat", compromising yourself to please another, etc. My role is to help identify unhealthy boundaries in your life and create new and healthy boundaries so that you can live the life you want to live. By doing this you help to reduce anxiety and depression, increase healthy communication, understand and conquer feelings of guilt and resentment, become strong and independent, and make changes to become the person you always wanted to be.
Thank you again for taking the time to get to know me and a little bit about how the therapy process works. If you have any questions or topics that you would like to hear more about feel free to contact me at (949) 441-0465 or lwiekamp.therapy@yahoo.com.
