When You’re Used to Being the Strong One

You’re the person people call when something goes wrong. You handle what needs to be handled, show up for the people you love, and keep going even when you’re tired. Over time, being “the strong one” can start to feel like part of who you are.

Lately, though, pushing through may not be working the way it used to. Anxiety can leave you caught in your head, while depression can make you feel disconnected from yourself and the things you care about. You may be grieving a loss, navigating a changing relationship, dealing with complicated family dynamics, or trying to move forward from something painful that still affects you today.

Life may also look different than it used to. A new chapter has you questioning who you are, what you want, or whether the way you’ve been living still works for you. Stress and responsibility have piled up, and somewhere along the way, your confidence, your relationship with your body, or the way you see yourself has shifted.

You may be the caregiver, provider, decision maker, or person everyone trusts to figure things out. Being there for the people you love can be meaningful, but it can also leave very little room for you.

You can care deeply about the people in your life without losing yourself in the process. Therapy can be a place to start making room for you again

You Get to Take Up Space Here

I have a particular passion for working with Black women and BIPOC clients, while welcoming adults and emerging adults of all backgrounds into my practice.

There may be expectations from your family, culture, relationships, or even yourself that you’ve carried for a long time. You may be figuring out which of those expectations still fit, which ones feel heavy, and what it would look like to make choices that feel more like your own.

We can talk about all of it here. You don’t have to edit parts of yourself or find the perfect words to explain what you’re feeling. I want to understand you, including the experiences that have shaped you, the relationships that matter to you, and the parts of your life you’re ready to look at differently.

I’ll Support You, and I’ll Challenge You

I’m here to listen, but I’m also going to be an active part of the work with you. I’ll ask questions, help you notice patterns, offer another perspective, and gently challenge you when I think there’s something worth looking at more closely.

I draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Interpersonal Therapy, and mindfulness, adapting how we work together based on what you need. Therapy with me isn’t limited to talking about what happened during your week. We might role-play a conversation you’ve been avoiding, practice a new skill, work through an exercise together, or find practical ways to use what we’re learning in situations outside of therapy.

Some days, you may need more space to talk and process. Other days, we may be more hands-on. I don’t believe every session needs to look the same, and I won’t give you homework just for the sake of giving you something to do. If practicing something between sessions would be useful to you, though, we can absolutely incorporate that.

We’ll work at a pace that feels right for you without losing sight of why you came to therapy in the first place. I want you to leave our work together knowing yourself better, trusting yourself more, and feeling confident using what you’ve learned in your everyday life.

You’ve spent a lot of time showing up for everyone else. There’s room for you here, too.

Experience

I have experience working across community mental health, hospital outpatient, and inpatient settings, providing individual and group therapy as well as psychological assessment. My work with clients across different stages of life has shaped my collaborative and culturally responsive approach to therapy. I recently completed my doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at Adler University.

Licensure

I am a postdoctoral resident at Balanced Awakening. I have several years of clinical experience, yet require additional supervised practice before being eligible for licensure in the state of Illinois. I am supervised by Dr. Caitlin Stumpner and Dr. Hannah Yang outside of appointment times.