Licensed to practice in 2 states and accepts 24 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and PTSD and 8 more.
(she/her)
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience supporting children, women, and families through life’s challenges, I am genuinely excited to offer a therapy space where you can feel safe, supported, and free to be yourself. Our work together will promote healing and growth while also making room for honesty, creativity, laughter, and learning to give ourselves a little more grace along the way. With specialized training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), mindfulness, and creative expressive arts, I help clients explore how past experiences, relationships, negative thoughts, and behavioral patterns may be impacting how they feel and live today. From there, we work together to build practical coping skills and create healthier patterns that support the life you want to live. My style is warm, real, strengths-based, and interactive. Building a strong therapeutic relationship matters to me, and I take time to truly get to know my clients beyond their symptoms or diagnosis. You can expect me to listen, ask questions, teach, encourage, offer perspective, and sometimes challenge you with compassion. I believe in noticing the small wins and creating a space where there is no shame in being a work in progress. My professional journey has included behavioral health, child welfare, crisis services, leadership, and clinical practice. I’m also a University of Maryland graduate, DMV native, and mother of two. Both my professional and personal experiences shape the compassion and practicality I bring to therapy. My goal is for you to leave therapy feeling heard and grounded, while also gaining greater insight and practical tools you can use outside of our sessions. Therapy is a partnership, but ultimately, I want to help you develop skills, confidence, and compassion for yourself that you can carry forward into your everyday life.
I often tell new clients that our first session is really an interview for both of us. You are getting to know me just as much as I am getting to know you, and it is important that you feel comfortable with the therapist you choose. I’ll invite you to share what brought you to therapy and give you space to talk as openly and freely as you feel comfortable—there is no pressure to tell me everything in the first session. I also meet you where you are emotionally. If something becomes overwhelming or you become emotional, we can slow down or stop, and I may guide you through a grounding or visualization exercise to help you feel calm and regulated before we continue. I’ll also share information about myself, my experience and training, the approaches I use, and why our work together may include more than traditional talk therapy. We’ll discuss what future sessions might look like, what you hope to get from therapy, and any questions or concerns you have. Most importantly, I want you to leave your first session feeling heard, comfortable, hopeful, and clearer about what comes next. If we decide that I’m not the best fit for what you need, that is okay too. My priority is making sure you receive the support and care you need, whether that is with me or another clinician.
One of my greatest strengths as a therapist is knowing when to hold space, when to ask a deeper question, and when to lovingly challenge you. I don’t believe therapy has to stay on the surface. My specialized trauma training allows me to help clients look beneath what is happening today and explore the thoughts, experiences, and memories that may still be influencing how they see themselves, their relationships, and their lives. Sometimes that means simply sitting with you and creating space for a deep, cathartic release of pain, confusion, or emotions you may have carried for years. Other times, I may challenge a negative belief, help you recognize a pattern, or ask a question that encourages you to look at something from a different perspective. I believe there is value in both. My sessions can also go beyond traditional talk therapy. Depending on your needs and comfort level, we may use guided visualization and meditation for grounding, creative therapeutic journaling, drawing, movement, or other expressive approaches to help you access and express things that may be difficult to put into words. When appropriate, trauma-focused techniques can help us work with memories and experiences that continue to feel “stuck.” Life experience has also taught me the importance of compassion, humor, flexibility, and recognizing that healing rarely happens in a perfectly straight line. I bring those lessons into the therapy room. There is never pressure to do something simply because it is a therapeutic technique. I meet you where you are. Some days we may dig deep; some days you may need to talk through what happened this week; and some days you may simply need someone to sit with you in it. My job is to meet you there while continuing to help you move forward.
My ideal clients are adults, teens, and children who may look like they are managing on the outside but are struggling with what they are carrying inside. Many of the adults I work with are overachievers, people-pleasers, or the person everyone else depends on, yet they often feel exhausted, unsupported, or stuck in unhealthy relationship patterns. Many are beginning to recognize that experiences from childhood or past trauma may still be influencing how they think, feel, and connect with others. They are often drawn to my trauma expertise, EMDR training, and creative approach because they are ready to go beyond simply talking about what is happening and begin working through what may be underneath it. My younger clients often struggle with self-esteem, managing emotions, relationships, or feeling misunderstood, while teens may especially feel unheard or unseen by their parents. Across ages, my ideal client does not need to have everything figured out—they simply need to be open to exploring themselves, learning new ways to cope and communicate, and creating healthier relationships with themselves and others.
When using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), I help you safely explore difficult experiences or memories that may still be affecting how you feel, think, or respond today. We first build coping and grounding skills so you feel prepared before processing deeper experiences. When you’re ready, I guide you through recalling parts of a memory while using gentle back-and-forth stimulation, such as eye movements or tapping, to help your brain process the experience differently. We move at your pace, and you remain in control throughout the process. The goal isn’t to erase what happened, but to help the memory feel less powerful and allow you to develop healthier beliefs about yourself and your experience.
I use mindfulness to help you slow down, notice what you are feeling, and become more aware of how your thoughts, emotions, and body are connected. In our sessions, I may guide you through breathing exercises, grounding activities, body awareness, or visualization to help calm your mind and manage overwhelming emotions. We also practice skills you can use outside of therapy when you feel anxious, stressed, triggered, or emotionally overwhelmed. The goal is not to stop difficult thoughts or feelings, but to help you respond to them in healthier and more intentional ways. I also incorporate Creative Expressive Arts into mindfulness techniques.Sometimes it can be difficult to put what you are feeling into words. I use creative activities such as therapeutic journaling, drawing, music, imagery, and movement to give you different ways to explore and express your thoughts, emotions, and experiences. You do not need to be artistic or creative to benefit from these activities. We may use them to explore a difficult experience, recognize patterns, identify strengths, or express something that has been hard to talk about. I always introduce activities based on your comfort level, and we decide together what feels helpful for you.
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you understand how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected. Together, we may identify negative or unhelpful thoughts that contribute to anxiety, sadness, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, or feeling stuck. I’ll help you question whether those thoughts are accurate or helpful and explore healthier ways of thinking and responding. We may also practice new behaviors and coping skills between sessions so that the changes we work on in therapy begin to show up in your everyday life.
I use a strengths-based approach to help you recognize what is already working within you, even during times when you may feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or unsure of yourself. Together, we identify your strengths, past successes, support systems, and the ways you have made it through difficult experiences before. This does not mean ignoring your struggles or pretending everything is positive. Instead, we make space for what is difficult while also building on the resilience, abilities, and resources you already have to help you move forward with greater confidence.