(she/her)
Trauma, recovery and post-traumatic resilience are among my areas of focus. Trauma overwhelms our ability to process and make sense of what has happened to us. The resulting confusion creates an environment where self-blame, fear, shame, reactivity and feeling responsible for things we cannot possibly control often take hold and start to flourish. I am trained in EMDR, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, exposure therapy, and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy to provide structured therapy that relieves symptoms of extreme stress and trauma including PTSD. Before I was a therapist, I worked for many years in art and community organizations, and I tend to be a good fit for artists, activists and unconventional thinkers. I care deeply about the health effects of poverty, inequality and oppression, and I value and promote self-determination and self-actualization. I am a long-time foster/adoptive parent in a biracial family; my work is informed by my lived experience as well as my education.
Clients may expect that I will meet them where they are at, emotionally, and welcome their thoughts and feelings, even those that are muddled, confusing, embarrassing, shame-inducing, or unconventional.
I seek to be authentic, direct, unpretentious, and open-minded with my clients. I avoid clinical language in session, in favor of understanding as accurately as I can how my clients experience life and what they want for themselves.
I work well with clients who are struggling to be free of oppression, fear, and inhibition, including those recovering from family and relationship violence, abandonment or abuse. I have significant experience working with teenagers and young adults in addition to adults. Clients who are taking a creative or non-traditional path to self-actualization find me to be a good fit. I have extensive lived experience with foster care, adoption, systems-involvement, and biracial family issues. My approach tends to be direct, lively and humorous.
Other specialties
I identify as
Trauma-Focused CBT
I am certified and experienced in the use of TF-CBT as a short-term (12-16 week) intervention to relieve symptoms of PTSD stemming from child abuse, assault, natural disaster and other life-threatening experiences.
Attachment-based
As your therapist, I am someone with whom you can "practice" exploring what it is like to allow another person (me!) to see you, hear you, and connect with you. If you have been threatened, ignored, or harmed by the people closest to you, especially early in life, this kind of conscious, caring connection can open up new opportunities to experience safety and support and modify trauma-based behaviors that prevent you from getting close to others.
EMDR
I am working toward my EMDR certification under clinical supervision and provide EMDR treatment to clients who are in need of support for laying to rest difficult memories and experiences that pull them away from the present. EMDR is not for everyone, and I ask that clients consult with me to determine whether EMDR is appropriate for their needs.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP)
I have significant experience using CBT interventions including emotion identification, identifing negative thought patterns driving reactions, and cognitive reframing, to reduce and eliminate self-harm and suicidal ideation in adolescents and young adults.