LPC, 12 years of experience
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with over a decade of experience working with adolescents and adults with mental, emotional, and behavioral health issues. I have counseled individuals with a variety of presenting conditions, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger management concerns, phase of life problems, family and relationship issues, grief/loss and trauma. Additionally, I am a trained EMDR therapist and certified as a Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). My clinical philosophy can be captured by the following words: "It’s not just in your head, it’s in your brain." My therapeutic approach is very much grounded in the belief that much of the ongoing emotional and psychological distress we carry throughout life is rooted in traumatic underpinnings, which directly affects the central nervous system. In helping clients understand the neurological reasons behind their distress, and integrating techniques to support rewiring for well-being, individuals become more empowered and confident to creatively assume control for how they want to live their lives.
Therapy sessions, like people, are unique and diverse. I value taking the time to understand my clients as individuals – with unique needs, stories, meanings, and beliefs – to cultivate a natural therapeutic environment that reflects how clients see themselves. With an established foundation of trust and unbiased acceptance, therapy allows clients to safely explore uncomfortable emotions, faulty beliefs, and the unhelpful behaviors that accompany them. By integrating insights with tools and techniques for neurowellness in therapy, clients can form a healthier sense of self, positively shaping the quality of their experiences and how they engage with their world.
I value the therapeutic relationship as the essential vehicle for a positive counseling experience, and prioritize creating an environment of warmth, trust, safety and non-judgment. Ultimately, I believe my role as a therapist is to use compassion and empathy to support individuals in better interacting with their experiences and creating new and more adaptive ways of understanding themselves and the world in which they exist.
EMDR is a leading evidence-based method in the treatment of trauma. In EMDR, by focusing on a specific problem or traumatic memory and adding a process called bilateral stimulation, your brain activates its natural problem-solving process, seeking resolution from old problems that keep surfacing in the present. EMDR can benefit anyone that finds themselves distressed by familiar triggers, unhelpful beliefs, and unwanted coping responses.