New to Grow
I am a compassionate, client-centered therapist who works with individuals navigating anxiety, life transitions, relationship challenges, and issues related to self-worth and identity. I strive to create a safe, supportive space where clients feel seen, heard, and empowered to better understand themselves and their patterns. My approach is trauma-informed and integrative, drawing from evidence-based practices while honoring each client’s values, strengths, and lived experiences.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
Your first session is a chance for us to get to know each other and begin creating a space where you feel comfortable, supported, and understood. We’ll start by talking about what brought you to therapy and what you’re hoping to get out of our work together. There’s no pressure to share everything at once—you’re welcome to move at a pace that feels right for you. I’ll ask some questions about your current concerns, background, and any past experiences with therapy to better understand your needs and goals. Together, we’ll begin identifying what feels most important to focus on and what kind of support might be most helpful for you. This session is also an opportunity for you to ask questions, share preferences, and get a sense of whether my style feels like a good fit. By the end of the session, we’ll talk about next steps and what ongoing therapy could look like, including possible goals and approaches. My goal is for you to leave the first session feeling heard, grounded, and hopeful about the process—knowing that therapy is a collaborative journey and that you don’t have to figure things out alone.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
What often stands out about my therapeutic approach is the balance between emotional depth and practical support. I help clients understand why they feel the way they do while also providing concrete tools they can use in everyday life to manage anxiety, improve communication, and set healthier boundaries. Sessions are not just about insight, but about helping clients experience real, sustainable change. I take a trauma-informed and relational approach, recognizing how past experiences and attachment patterns shape present-day reactions. Rather than pathologizing clients, I work to normalize their responses and help them build self-compassion and emotional regulation. Clients often share that they feel deeply heard and validated, while also gently challenged to grow. Another key aspect of my work is collaboration. I believe therapy works best when clients are active participants in the process. Goals are developed together, progress is reviewed regularly, and interventions are tailored to each individual’s values and readiness for change. Many clients report feeling more confident, grounded, and empowered to navigate relationships and life transitions as a result of our work together.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
I am best positioned to work with individuals who are feeling anxious, overwhelmed, or stuck during times of transition or relational stress. Many of the clients I support are high-functioning but internally struggling with self-doubt, people-pleasing, boundary challenges, or difficulty trusting their own needs and voice. I work well with clients who want to better understand their emotional patterns, reduce anxiety, and build healthier relationships with themselves and others. I am particularly well suited to support clients who are navigating relationship uncertainty, breakups, or emotionally draining dynamics and who want to rebuild self-worth, improve communication, and set firmer boundaries. I also work with clients who are motivated to engage in self-reflection, develop coping skills, and move toward meaningful, values-based change rather than quick fixes. Clients who value a collaborative, supportive, and nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship—and who are open to both practical tools and deeper self-awareness—often find my approach to be a good fit.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I have experience utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) as a primary treatment modality when working with clients experiencing anxiety, adjustment-related stressors, and relational difficulties. In my practice, CBT is used as a structured yet flexible framework to help clients understand the connection between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, particularly in response to situational stressors. I incorporate CBT by first assisting clients in identifying automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions that contribute to anxiety, low self-worth, and emotional dysregulation. This often includes exploring patterns such as catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, mind-reading, and self-blame. Once these patterns are identified, I collaborate with clients to challenge and reframe unhelpful thoughts in a way that feels realistic and empowering rather than overly positive or invalidating. CBT is also used to support behavioral change. I work with clients to develop coping strategies, grounding techniques, and problem-solving skills that can be practiced both in and outside of sessions. This may include exposure to anxiety-provoking situations, assertive communication practice, boundary-setting exercises, and behavioral activation to reduce avoidance and increase engagement in meaningful activities. In addition, I integrate psychoeducation as a key component of CBT, helping clients understand how anxiety and stress responses are maintained through learned patterns. This education supports normalization and reduces self-criticism, allowing clients to view symptoms as adaptive responses that can be modified over time. Overall, CBT is used in my practice as a collaborative and goal-oriented approach that promotes insight, skill-building, and increased self-efficacy. It is often combined with trauma-informed and strengths-based perspectives to ensure that interventions are responsive to each client’s individual experiences and needs.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
I incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help clients develop a more flexible and compassionate relationship with their internal experiences. ACT is used to support clients in increasing psychological flexibility by learning to observe thoughts and emotions without over-identifying with them or attempting to eliminate discomfort. I assist clients in practicing acceptance strategies, cognitive defusion techniques, and mindfulness-based interventions to reduce the impact of distressing thoughts and emotions. ACT interventions are also used to support values clarification and committed action. Clients are guided to identify personal values and take meaningful, values-consistent steps even in the presence of anxiety or discomfort. This approach is particularly effective for clients who feel stuck, avoidant, or overly self-critical, as it shifts the focus from symptom elimination to living a meaningful and purpose-driven life.
Christian Counseling
I have experience integrating Christian counseling principles into my clinical practice when working with clients who identify faith as an important part of their worldview. In my work, Christian counseling is used as a supportive framework that honors clients’ spiritual beliefs while maintaining evidence-based clinical practice and ethical boundaries. I utilize Christian counseling by inviting clients to explore how their faith influences their understanding of themselves, their relationships, and their life challenges. This includes examining spiritual beliefs that provide strength, hope, and resilience, as well as gently addressing faith-based narratives that may contribute to guilt, shame, fear, or self-sacrifice at the expense of emotional well-being. Clients are supported in distinguishing healthy, life-giving faith from patterns rooted in trauma, misinterpretation, or spiritual pressure. In practice, I integrate Christian counseling through interventions such as values exploration grounded in Christian principles, discussion of forgiveness and grace in clinically appropriate ways, and reflection on identity and worth through a faith-informed lens. When clinically indicated and client-led, I may incorporate spiritual practices such as prayer, Scripture reflection, or faith-based coping strategies as tools for grounding and emotional regulation, ensuring these interventions are never used to bypass emotional processing or minimize distress. Christian counseling in my practice is collaborative and client-centered. Clients determine the extent to which faith is incorporated, and interventions are adapted to align with their personal beliefs and stage of spiritual development. This approach supports clients in integrating faith with psychological insight, fostering healing that addresses emotional, relational, and spiritual dimensions. Overall, Christian counseling is used in my practice as a complementary approach that supports meaning-making, resilience, and ethical self-care. It is consistently integrated alongside trauma-informed, strengths-based, and evidence-based modalities to ensure clients receive holistic and clinically sound care that respects both their mental health needs and spiritual values.
Gestalt
I have experience utilizing Gestalt Therapy principles as an integrative treatment approach when working with clients experiencing anxiety, adjustment-related stressors, and relational difficulties. In my practice, Gestalt Therapy is used to increase clients’ awareness of their present-moment experiences, including thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and relational patterns, in order to support insight and meaningful change. I use Gestalt Therapy by helping clients identify what they are experiencing in the “here and now” rather than focusing solely on past events or future concerns. This includes guiding clients to notice physical sensations, emotional responses, and shifts in energy during sessions. By bringing awareness to these experiences as they occur, clients are able to better understand how unresolved emotions, unmet needs, or habitual patterns show up in their daily lives and relationships. Gestalt techniques such as experiential dialogue, empty-chair work, and role exploration are incorporated when clinically appropriate to support emotional expression, integration, and resolution. These interventions allow clients to externalize internal conflicts, increase self-responsibility, and explore new ways of responding within a safe therapeutic environment. I also emphasize the therapeutic relationship as a key component of Gestalt work, using the client-therapist interaction to highlight relational patterns and increase awareness. Gestalt Therapy in my practice is grounded in a trauma-informed and strengths-based framework. Interventions are paced carefully to ensure emotional safety, and clients are empowered to choose how deeply they engage in experiential work. This approach supports clients in developing greater self-awareness, authenticity, and self-regulation. Overall, Gestalt Therapy is used in my practice as a collaborative and experiential method that complements other evidence-based approaches. It supports clients in building awareness, resolving unfinished business, and increasing personal responsibility, ultimately fostering greater emotional integration and healthier relational functioning.
Motivational Interviewing
I have experience utilizing Motivational Interviewing (MI) as a client-centered, evidence-based approach when working with individuals experiencing anxiety, adjustment-related stressors, relational challenges, and ambivalence about change. In my practice, MI is used to support clients in exploring their own motivations, values, and readiness for change rather than imposing direction or advice. I apply Motivational Interviewing by using open-ended questions, reflective listening, affirmations, and summaries to help clients feel heard, understood, and empowered. This approach is particularly effective for clients who feel stuck, resistant, or conflicted, as it creates a nonjudgmental space where ambivalence is normalized and explored rather than confronted. I intentionally listen for change talk and gently reflect it back to strengthen clients’ confidence and intrinsic motivation. MI is often integrated when clients are navigating behavior change related to coping strategies, substance use, boundary-setting, self-care, or relationship patterns. I work collaboratively with clients to clarify their goals and values, helping them identify discrepancies between current behaviors and desired outcomes. This process allows clients to move toward change at their own pace while maintaining autonomy and self-respect. Additionally, MI is used to enhance engagement in treatment and support follow-through with therapeutic goals. By emphasizing collaboration, evocation, and autonomy, MI helps reduce resistance and increases clients’ sense of ownership over their progress. This is especially helpful when clients have had previous negative experiences with therapy or feel overwhelmed by expectations.