When You’re Used to Being the Strong One
Maybe you’re used to being the person everyone counts on. You take care of the people around you, make the hard decisions, and keep things moving, even when you’re struggling yourself. From the outside, it may look like you have everything together. Inside, you might feel overwhelmed, anxious, stuck, or simply tired of carrying so much. 

You may be navigating a major life transition, relationship or family challenges, grief, past trauma, or questions about who you are and what you want next. Maybe you’ve spent so much time showing up for everyone else that you’re ready to make more room for yourself. Therapy can be a place to do that.

I work with adults and emerging adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, grief and loss, relationship and family concerns, life transitions, stress, self-esteem, and body image. I especially enjoy working with Black women and BIPOC clients and creating space to explore the ways culture, identity, family, and lived experiences shape how you see yourself and move through the world.

My Approach

A Space to Let Your Guard Down
My approach is warm, collaborative, and culturally responsive. I want you to feel comfortable showing up as yourself, without feeling like you need to have the right words or know exactly where to begin. I’ll meet you where you are, but I’ll also gently challenge you when it can help you grow. Some days, you may know exactly what you want to explore and take the lead. Other days, I may offer more structure, ask questions that help you look at something differently, or help you slow down and notice patterns that may be keeping you stuck. Our sessions can also be active and practical. We might practice a difficult conversation, work through an exercise together, build a new skill, or explore how you can respond differently to something happening in your everyday life. I draw from CBT, ACT, Interpersonal Therapy, and mindfulness, adapting our work to what feels most useful for you.

My hope is that therapy helps you understand yourself more deeply while building skills you can carry with you long after our sessions. Together, we can make sense of what you’ve been carrying, strengthen your relationship with yourself and others, and help past experiences have less influence on how you move forward. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you begin. We can start where you are and work toward feeling more confident, grounded, and connected to yourself.

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.