I specialize in helping adults move through anxiety, depression, relationships, mother loss, life transitions, and the effects of childhood emotional trauma.

Are we a good fit?

I truly believe there’s a great therapist out there for anyone who needs one. My practice tends to attract people who crave space to get in touch with their emotions—or space to feel themselves outside of heightened emotions—and who can relate to the following issues:

Relationships: How to understand your feelings, trust your experience, and feel more connected to self and other

• You grew up experiencing family conflict, separation, intense stress, or childhood emotional neglect, and now you find yourself ambivalent about relationships, whether you’re in one or not.
• You tend to give more than you receive, personally or professionally, and feel resentful or exhausted.
• Your early caregivers didn’t learn how to support you emotionally, leading you to doubt or ignore your own feelings and needs.

Identity: How to reconcile your personal identity with external messages

• You want to more fully express fundamental beliefs or parts of your identity but worry about others’ understanding or acceptance.
• You grew up feeling misunderstood in your identity by your family, community, or society at large, and while you want to respect others’ experiences, you want space to live your own truth. (This could mean anything from racial or gender identity to career choice, spirituality, or being a highly sensitive person.)

Creatives: How to release blocks to authentic expression and career progress

• You’re still in a day job and know you want to return to the creative life, but you’re not feeling quite ready or supported to do so.
• You’re a working artist trying to bring more of yourself to your art, but feeling pulled in too many directions.
• You’re a creative social entrepreneur wanting to step more fully into leadership and a public role, but needing to work through anxieties that arise on the path.

Motherless Daughters: How to move through life without a mother figure

• Your mother (or mother figure) died before you could reconcile or appreciate your relationship as an adult.
• Your mother died a while ago, and you’re still struggling with conflicted feelings toward her.
• Your mother is absent physically, mentally, or emotionally, and you’re wanting to differentiate yourself from those tendencies.

What does therapy look like?

I view therapy as a collaborative process: understanding your internal experience is a key task for us both. Given that foundation, depending on your needs:

• We might explore the impact of past events on your present circumstances.

• We might examine your present-moment thoughts, emotions, or body sensations to deepen your understanding of a confusing situation, or to release physical tension that can remain stuck in our bodies long after a traumatic experience.

• We might look at how you tend to deal with your feelings and find healthier options for you. 

• All this can include discussion, mindfulness exercises, somatic (body-based) awareness activities, or good old problem-solving.

In our work together, the focus is on you: your history, your patterns, your emotional responses. By getting familiar with your internal experiences and learning to work skillfully with them, you will make more informed and intentional life choices.

More about my approach

As an integral psychotherapist, my clinical approach is well rounded and unique: I blend elements of mindfulness, relational/analytic, somatic, and Internal Family Systems interventions to help you heal from the inside out.

I believe therapy works best when we become present to your moment-to-moment experience, which leads you to the insights and answers that work best for you. I integrate several approaches into therapy:

• Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of bringing conscious, nonjudgmental awareness to what you're doing, thinking, and feeling in this very moment. Our lives are full and fast-paced, and it's easy to get lost in our to-do lists, fantasize about a better future, or relive a painful incident from this morning, or from years ago. When we're in our heads like that, we lose connection to our bodies, our five senses, and our environment as they are right now. In therapy, this style of mindful self-compassion brings crucial information that can help relieve anxiety, physical tension, and outdated beliefs.

• Internal Family Systems (IFS): IFS in an evidence-based practice that uses the language of "parts" as a working metaphor for our internal experiences and coping strategies. It acknowledges that we all have a neutral, unconditionally loving Self that can hold our parts with empathy and curiosity. Mindfully identifying your emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations from Self and then relating to them as a part of your experience, rather than identifying with them as your entire experience, can help you make sense of your feelings, connect the dots between triggers and responses, and stay centered during times of distress.

• Somatics: Life experiences aren’t just stored in our memories—they’re stored in our bodies. The emotions we feel, the thoughts we think, and the conclusions we draw from them are all tied to our physical sensations. Somatic work involves mindful, body-based interventions that directly address how stress and trauma impact the nervous system. In my practice, this can include mindful breathing, exploring physical expressions of what you're discussing, or offering brief physical activities to help you regulate your nervous system.

• Relational/Analytic: Our unconscious habits have more influence over our behavior than we might believe. Even when we know that we want something different for ourselves, we can still find it hard to make changes, slipping easily into our go-to coping strategies. In addition to understanding your life outside of the therapy room, understanding your relationship with your therapist can be a healing and illuminating experience. Mindfully attending to how our relationship is playing out, particularly in the context of your past relationship patterns, can help build trust, improve communication, and foster a protected space for deeper healing to occur.

My style is earnest and directive, yet intuitive and spacious. I might challenge your thinking about a situation or help you explore options, but I’m just as likely to hang back at a charged moment to allow your internal wisdom to bring you insight. I will always support your autonomy, your mindful self-reflection, and radical acceptance of your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations.

Everyone's story is unique, so your timeline and progress will depend on our chemistry together, your readiness for therapy, your ongoing commitment, and your goals.

Think we could be a match? Contact me to get started.