Getting stuck is easy. Getting unstuck doesn’t have to be as lonely and painful as it sometimes feels and sometimes is.

My path to this career hasn't been linear, and I'm no stranger to feeling stuck at times. Feeling and getting stuck is part of being human. I’m starting out with this to let you know that as a therapist, I won’t be armchair-quarterbacking, parroting jargon, telling you how to live your best life, or telling you what you should do. I’ll listen, then listen some more, then keep listening for patterns. We’ll work together to harness your capacity for change, your ability to get unstuck, and when needed, find other resources and supports.

My approach to therapy is both familiar in tone and deeply rooted in science and evidence-based practice.  If you’re familiar with therapist jargon… you might say I have a strong Gestalt approach to psychodynamic practice that is influenced by attachment, epigenetics, and trauma-informed practice. 

If that sounds like word-salad… I’ll help you look for patterns in your relationships both within yourself and with others.  I’ll help you make sense of the senseless as best I can.  I’ll help you find some hope even if that sounds laughable.  I’ll do my best to help you develop communication skills, emotional regulation skills, distress tolerance skills, and skills that may help you stay in the present moment without judgement, which I’ve found is a great place to start. 

That last sentence talked about “mindfulness practice”.  Yes, that informs so much of how I practice, but it doesn’t involve me just telling you to breathe; so if you’re looking for more structure, I’m here for that too. 

We have to know what we’re doing together in order to be successful.  With that, working with me involves identifying clear goals for treatment, and referring to them to make sure we’re making progress.  This can involve homework, clearly definable goals, worksheets if that’s a process that works for you; or just us talking.  But we need to know what the goal is for our talking, otherwise we might find ourselves stuck.  Part of my job is to help us stay on track and work to reach your self-defined treatment goals. 

My clinical background includes working with teens in high-acuity residential treatment; trauma-informed work with refugees and asylum seekers in the public school system; and working with adults of ALL ages with co-occurring issues (substance use and other mental health disorders) in individual practice, intensive outpatient, and partial hospitalization programs.  With this, I can work with you in a very time-limited and solution focused framework, or walk alongside you for some longer, deeper exploration that takes more time. 

Lastly… safety and stability is key.  This comes from trauma informed practice. My perspective is that a firm sense of deep safety and stability both in our therapeutic relationship and within yourself is needed before digging deep into traumatic events.  Please know I’ll make sure we take our time so you have the support you need if this is part of your process. 

If you’ve made it this far… thanks.  I’d be honored to speak with you.