Licensed to practice in Wisconsin and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Trauma and PTSD, Life Transitions, Coping Skills and 4 more.
New to Grow
At our core, we’re all wired for love and connection. Life experiences—like trauma, loss, or unmet needs—can make it hard to live in that truth. The therapeutic relationship can serve as a vehicle to aid in reconnecting with yourself and explore safe connection to another. My approach is eclectic and focused on the present moment, drawing from mindfulness, self-compassion, IFS, and working with paradoxes in thought. Past clients have described my style as “compassionate, but not coddling.” I believe each person comes to therapy with their own innate wisdom, and I value collaboration and shared ownership in the healing process.
In our first session, I like to take time to get to know you and understand your goals for therapy. I use what I learn throughout our work together to ensure that I am supporting the changes and outcomes you hope to achieve through our meetings. I also make time to answer any questions you may have about me, my approach, and the therapeutic process, including providing psychoeducation when helpful. I value transparency in therapy and strive to be open about what I am noticing and thinking during our sessions. I also use our therapeutic relationship in real time as a tool for growth, helping us identify patterns, build insight, and create meaningful change together.
I value authenticity in my work and strive to embody it in our interactions. I believe that meaningful change happens when we can show up as our genuine selves, and I aim to create a space where that feels possible. I also appreciate the role of humor in therapy and welcome it when it helps foster connection, perspective, and healing. Curiosity is central to my approach. I often use imagination, visualization, and other experiential techniques to access parts of ourselves that can be difficult to reach through logic alone. These are often the parts that carry important emotions, needs, and experiences, yet are frequently met with judgment from our thinking minds.
I work particularly well with people who appear to be functioning well on the outside but feel disconnected from themselves, their emotions, or their lives. Often, these individuals are insightful and capable of thinking deeply about their experiences, yet struggle to fully feel and embody those experiences in the moment. Many of my clients have learned to rely on logic, analysis, or intellectual understanding as a way of navigating life. While these strengths can be valuable, they can sometimes create distance from emotions, needs, and authentic self-connection. Together, we work to bridge that gap by developing a deeper awareness of what is happening internally and cultivating the ability to connect with oneself in a more genuine, compassionate, and embodied way. My goal is to help clients move beyond simply understanding their experiences and toward truly experiencing themselves with greater presence, authenticity, and self-trust.
Other specialties
I identify as
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I draw from both Inner Child work and Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help clients connect with needs, emotions, and experiences that may not have been fully met or understood during childhood. Often, these unresolved experiences continue to influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that operate outside of conscious awareness. This can show up as logically knowing something to be true, while still experiencing persistent emotions, self-doubt, or intrusive thoughts that seem to contradict that understanding. Many people become frustrated when insight alone does not create lasting change. Rather than trying to ignore, suppress, or overcome these parts of ourselves, I believe there is value in getting curious about them. Together, we explore what these parts may be trying to communicate, protect, or accomplish. As we develop a more compassionate relationship with them, we can begin to understand the messages they carry and the roles they have played in our lives. Through this process, parts that may once have felt disruptive or overwhelming can become important sources of insight, self-understanding, and growth. The goal is not to get rid of these parts, but to help them feel heard, understood, and integrated so they can support us rather than unintentionally create suffering.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
As humans, we naturally tend to see things in black-and-white terms. We often look for certainty, clear answers, and definitive ways of understanding ourselves and the world around us. Yet much of life exists in shades of gray. Dialectical thinking helps us explore thoughts, feelings, and urges that may seem contradictory or paradoxical at first. Rather than viewing these experiences as either/or, we can learn to hold space for multiple truths at the same time. Often, what appears to be a conflict reveals a deeper and more nuanced understanding when approached with curiosity and openness. By practicing this "both/and" perspective, we can develop greater emotional flexibility, resilience, and self-compassion. It allows us to respond more effectively to life's inevitable challenges and transitions, rather than becoming stuck in rigid patterns of thinking or reacting. In doing so, we create more room for growth, adaptation, and a fuller understanding of ourselves and our experiences.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
The body holds a great deal of wisdom if we are willing to listen. While many of us are taught to rely primarily on our thoughts and logic, our emotions often communicate through sensations in the body long before we are consciously aware of them. In my work, I help clients cultivate a deeper connection between their emotional experiences and the physical sensations that accompany them. By learning to notice and understand these signals, emotions can become valuable messengers rather than experiences to avoid, suppress, or fear. When we develop the ability to attend to and attune with our emotions through the body, we gain access to important information about our needs, boundaries, values, and well-being. This embodied awareness can foster greater self-understanding, emotional regulation, and a more compassionate relationship with ourselves. Rather than seeing emotions as problems to solve, we can begin to view them as guides that help us navigate our lives with greater clarity, presence, and authenticity.