Written by Sara Piccola |
Born and raised in Israel, Mirit Sloves has made Reno her home, a community she describes as family; everyone cares and watches out for one another, similar to her upbringing in Israel.
After serving in the Israeli army, Mirit moved to the United States, where she has been involved in education for 18 years, working with children from an academic and emotional aspect. Several years ago she went to school to receive her Masters in Marriage, Family and Child Therapy from the University of Phoenix, Reno campus, in order to fulfill the drive to move beyond her limits and do more.
Mirit completed an internship with Children’s Cabinet working with families and children, and now she has a private practice. In addition, she is an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing-trained (EMDR) therapist and is currently working towards her PhD in Psychology.
Although Mirit’s passion is working with children and families, she also sees couples and individuals of all ages. Her solution focus approach centers on the here and now counseling to equip clients with new and healthier tools to handle life’s many challenges. By placing emphasis on the client’s positive strength rather than dwelling on their weaknesses, short-term therapy is used with an average of 12 sessions.
Additionally, Mirit believes in educating about consequences instead of using punishment, especially for children and adolescents. If a teenager comes to her with a smoking problem, they will research the consequences of smoking and look at x-rays of healthy lungs versus a smoker’s lungs. She is very involved in teaching her clients new behavior skills.
“We all live in a system,” according to Mirit. For example, working with a child empowers the family as a whole. This supports her technique of collaborative therapy as everything is team oriented. If something does not work for a patient then it is re-evaluated and changed for the following week. Every one of Mirit’s patients has her cell phone number, and she is available beyond weekly sessions.
There are many factors in today’s world that are affecting our overall health. Stress is the major factor, but when it comes to family, communication is also becoming more difficult with the new trend of texting and e-mail. The lack of personal contact enables people to hide behind technologies, where one cannot observe body language or voice tonality. When technology is prevalent in our world, we lose the opportunity of developing social skills.
Because of demanding and busy lifestyles, some parents speak to their children approximately 15 to 20 minutes a day and most of that time is in passing and through command. She suggests that families sit down once a week, turn off all communication and have a family meeting for at least two hours. She also discussed the benefits of creating a business plan for your family. Most people make business plans for their jobs but they forget the most important business plan of all, the family.
Mirit has found that children are often intimidated by going to an office for therapy. Therefore, in addition to her office hours, she has begun in-home therapy to eliminate this obstacle. She is using art and play therapy as well as enhancing study, organizational, problem solving and coping skills.
Ultimately, Mirit sees herself opening a parenting school in Reno. The school would be a one stop place for parents, children, counseling, tutoring, etc. Mirit hopes to instill healthier and more balanced tools for her clients in order for them to enjoy and celebrate life. She tells her clients, “this is not a dress rehearsal, this is the show.”
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