HEALING, GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION
Amy Blake, LCSW
Empowering people to heal, grow and make transformational change in their lives is my passion.
Education:
Masters in Social Work 1987
Bachelors in Psychology 1985
from
The University of Michigan
Amy Blake
Amy Blake, LCSW is a seasoned psychotherapist, consultant, and trainer with over three decades of experience specializing in trauma transformation and healthy relationship development.
She is an approved trainer and consultant for the Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy, a powerful, innovative approach to healing childhood attachment wounds. In addition to her private practice, she serves as a transformational coach, helping individuals cultivate their speaking voice and overcome inner barriers to success.
With a diverse background in various settings including a psychiatric hospital, LGBTQIA+ community center, family service, foster care, hospice, and a family medicine department. Amy has also taught sociology and social work courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Amy holds a master’s degree in social work and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The University of Michigan.
Amy is based in Maine, where she draws inspiration from the natural beauty of the region and the resilience of the people.
My Therapy Practice
I specialize in working with adults who aspire to reach their full potential in life, as well as those facing challenges such as depression, anxiety, trauma, and attachment wounds. . With expertise in couples counseling, which can be further explored on my relationship-centered website, www.relationshiptrip.com, I operate primarily in the virtual space as a licensed therapist in Maine, serving clients within the state. I also offer in-person intensives.
Acknowledging the increasing recognition of trauma and attachment wounds in mental health, I am dedicated to addressing these crucial factors often overlooked in the field. Trauma, whether personal or collective, has historically been downplayed due to its complexity. Effective trauma treatment diverges from conventional medical models focused on symptom reduction and increased functioning rather than deep transformational healing.
While trauma-related changes in the brain can lead to symptoms like depression and anxiety, my approach transcends mere symptom management. Leveraging insights from neuroscience, I strive to nurture healing, growth, and transformation in individuals seeking to unleash their full potential. My objective is to foster profound changes beyond symptom alleviation, empowering individuals to break free from the constraints of past trauma and attachment wounds.
I bring a wealth of experience in diverse clinical environments including: developing a trauma-informed intensive outpatient program; family services; foster care; hospice; family medicine; LGBTQ++ community support and teaching social work and sociology at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Additionally, I offer training and consultation in The Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy, aiding clinicians in enhancing their efficacy in working with clients.
Modalities
DNMS - The Developmental Needs Meeting Strategy
Excellent for healing attachment wounds, which develop due to unmet emotional needs from childhood. The more emotional needs go unmet, the more we are going to struggle in relationships and with reactivity. It is the unmet emotional needs that fuel our reactivity and drive unwanted behavior, beliefs and emotions. The DNMS is a very powerful ego-state healing modality that makes it possible to heal attachment wounds and resolve triggers from the past. This creates a greater foundational stability allowing you greater ability to grow to meet your full potential.
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Excellent for resolving traumatic memories. Because traumatic experiences get stored differently than regular memories, pieces of memory can get frozen and then get triggered in the present moment and we can experience the traumatic event as if it is happening right now. EMDR helps process those memories and disentangle any negative beliefs and painful emotions so you can remember and speak about the traumatic experience without reliving it all over again.
ART - Accelerated Resolution Therapy
ART sessions swiftly address an array of issues including Anxiety, Depression, Phobias, PTSD, Addictions, and more, ART offers a transformative and efficient path to healing and growth.
ART guides clients through a process of replacing negative images in the mind with positive ones, and effectively alleviates symptoms of Post-Traumatic. This unique modality utilizes eye movements and integrates established therapies like Gestalt, Psychodynamic Therapy, and Guided Imagery to expedite healing and promote lasting change. Clients undergoing this therapy do not need to divulge details to the therapist making ART a non-invasive, client driven process.
FLASH Technique
The FLASH Technique works quickly to decrease the disturbance of painful, aversive memories.
Clinical Hypnosis
In the early to mid- 2000's, I trained with Carolyn Daitch, PhD, and became certified in Clinical Hypnosis through the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Hypnosis can be used to help symptom reduction and to support the positive movement you want to make in your life.
Please Note: Many people want to "search for memories" with hypnosis and I do not do that kind of work, nor do I recommend it. I work from the understanding that the body, mind and psyche holds the wisdom to release the necessary information for healing and it can be detrimental to intentionally try to surface trauma memories.
Grove Metaphor Therapy
The first trauma modality I learned is an ego-state approach created by David Grove called Metaphor Therapy. Metaphor Therapy is a beautiful way of addressing the uncomfortable body physiology and associated painful memories, emotions and negative beliefs. In Metaphor Therapy, we move the "ick" out of the body through the use of clean language with a focus on your internal experience to activate your body's innate wisdom and drive to heal.
Notice of Privacy Practices
Your Protected Health Information is protected under HIPAA. When we decide to work together, you will receive a notice of privacy practices. If you have any quesstions about your privacy as a consumer of mental health services, please contact Amy Blake, LCSW. Click Here.
No Surprises Act Information
The No Surprises Act was established primarily to keep medical providers from charging for services without your consent - such as an out-of-network doctor looking at your chart after a surgery. Mental health services were included in this Act. Your billing will be very straight forward. If you have insurance, the terms of your policy dictate what you will pay - granted understanding your insurance and getting a solid answer from your insurance company is not always straight forward. Insurance companies typically reserve the right to wait until after they receive the billing to decide if they will pay for the services you received. If you are paying out of pocket, you will know the amount you are paying per hour and any changes in the rate will be discussed with you in advance. If you have questions about the No Suprises Act as it relates to potentially receiving services from Amy Blake, LCSW, please contact amy@amyblakelcsw.com