(he/him)
Hi there! I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with roughly 5 years of experience in community, outpatient, and inpatient settings. Originally from Ohio, I moved to Florida in 2022 and have first hand experience with major life transitions and tricky developmental lifecycle changes that I use in my practice to guide my work and perspective to help my clients. I work with individuals, couples, and families to overcome tricky and uncomfortable patterns and learn new ways to tap into their full potential, while challenging the narratives and beliefs that lead to unhealthy cycles.
I know that starting therapy takes a lot of courage and humility, so I like to take my first session to get to know each other and become more comfortable before jumping into the thicket together. We'll discuss your goals and collaborate on a plan to address and explore your path for growth and healing. We'll take it as slow or as fast as you are comfortable, and I will never ask you to "start all over" - I can meet you where you are, and the rest will come when it needs to. You're the expert in your life, and we'll combine our skills and expertise to find the best path forward.
I believe in viewing my clients as whole people with experiences and perspectives outside of what brings them to therapy, so together we can take a holistic approach and tap into strengths to overcome stuck patterns. Being part of the queer community gives me a unique perspective and helps to empathize with whatever dynamics a person presents with in therapy. I recognize the impact of culture, politics, and society on our sense of identity and safety, and I work with my clients to find ways of navigating and overcoming barriers and obstacles in the way of an abundant and fulfilling emotional and cognitive experience.
As a member of the Queer community, I have a passion for working with clients both within the umbrella as well as allied with it. I work best with deep thinkers who are prepared to challenge themselves to explore the many facets of identity and relationships that shape who they are, as well as start to experience things on a higher emotional level. My clients should be ready to break barriers placed on them and emerge into a new sense of self while managing the wrenches thrown by life and society.
Relational
Creating and fostering a strong client-therapist relationship is key to modeling healthy relationships in my clients' lives. I focus heavily on connecting with my clients to encourage them to explore the relationships in their own life for a more well-rounded experience. Whether familial, friendly, romantic, business, or platonic, relationships are the building blocks by which we gain and strengthen our sense of security and community in the world.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use CBT as a baseline to help clients begin to better understand the patterns of thoughts, behaviors, and feelings as create a framework for getting deeper into the underlying processes that perpetuate those patterns. This is a good way of keeping us on track and gives us an avenue to explore the profound depths of our identity and belief system.
Family Therapy
Whether birth, adopted, or chosen family, I encourage my clients to strengthen their family relationships while increasing their individuality within their system. Nobody exists in a vacuum, and understanding and improving the transactional influences from family relationships can be the key to lasting health and happiness.
Gender-affirming therapy
I always respect my clients' identities and will continue to be an advocate for them both in therapy and in the wild. I help my clients understand every aspect of their identity and encourage them to break down barriers and challenge themselves to strengthen confidence around their identity. Everyone exists on a variety of spectrums, and we can work to deconstruct unhelpful beliefs and frameworks that keep us from reaching our highest self.
Trauma Informed Care
I believe that most presenting problems can be boiled down to some form of traumatic experience or a combination of traumatic experiences throughout their lives. I am careful to include a trauma-informed perspective to every session. By understanding the impacts of adverse experiences, we can deconstruct dysfunctional beliefs and thought patterns that may fly under the radar in our daily lives and keep us in uncomfortable cycles.