Welcome to therapy! I love what I do. I’ve worked with people from all walks of life, with a range of diagnoses and problems. Therapy offers relief from trying to “fix” yourself, or “just get over” something that upsets you. That often becomes an endless, private battle. Therapy helps you resolve it.  

For some people, learning to manage symptoms (like mood swings or panic attacks) is essential. Therapy is very helpful in that way. At the same time, therapy is about much more than managing symptoms. It is tailored to you as a whole person. 

Therapy is a unique kind of relationship. It involves warmth, compassion, and shared humanity; but also confidentiality and professional boundaries.  These boundaries exist to help you feel secure. You can open up at your own pace—without judgment, unwanted advice, or the need to manage the other person’s feelings. 

In therapy, you can look at yourself in a way that feels safe, not shaming or overwhelming. Therapy is about helping you understand yourself more deeply, so you can break free from patterns that hold you back. 

Therapy often involves understanding how your past has affected you. This includes your childhood and your past relationships. I welcome this kind of exploration. I have a strong interest in family systems, including the impact of parents with addictions or mental illness (diagnosed or not). 

As adults, we tend to repeat family patterns in relationships, friendships, and jobs—unconsciously, and despite knowing better. There is value in exploring these patterns. It’s healing to put words to confusing experiences, and to learn that “you make sense” given your history.  Patterns can change once they can be faced. 

However, some people don’t want to explore the past in therapy. I’m fine with that, too.  We can focus on ways to feel better, solve problems, and get out of your own way.

A common theme in therapy is avoidance, and the problems it causes. Avoiding discomfort is only human. We all do it. However, avoidance only works temporarily. In the long run, it creates its own problems. 

Here are some ways avoidance shows up: over-achievement; perfectionism; procrastination; using food, alcohol, or drugs to cope; doom-scrolling; codependency; neglecting your basic needs; losing touch with your body’s signals; staying compulsively busy; and intellectualizing your feelings.

Therapy can help you find your way out of unhealthy avoidance. That may seem scary—there’s a reason we avoid pain!—but with time and practice, you can handle discomfort better. This creates more room for joy, peace, and positive change. 

Some people come to me seeking advice about a dilemma in their life. That’s understandable, but therapy isn’t about telling you what to do. Instead, I offer new perspectives that can help you see things differently. Sometimes a decision feels agonizing or urgent; therapy creates some breathing room. As you feel better and more whole, you’ll find it easier to make your own decisions and trust yourself. 

My work includes strategies drawn from internal family systems, dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, psychodynamic theory, polyvagal theory, and mindfulness training.

My specialties include the treatment of anxiety; depression; grief; self-esteem and identity issues; parenting concerns (I’m a mom too); patterns of unhealthy relationships; concerns of midlife and older age; and family-of-origin problems like intergenerational trauma, family conflicts, and estrangement.

Experience

I’ve been in the mental-health field since 2003, licensed as an LCSW since 2005. Before joining Balanced Awakening, I worked in community mental health. My past experience includes crisis intervention; intensive treatment for those with chronic mental illness; participation in research studies as a clinician; and most recently, psychotherapy for adults with a wide range of diagnoses.