LMHC, 11 years of experience
I'm a FL-based LMHC and have a master of science degree in Art Therapy and Counseling from Eastern Virginia Medical School. I've been a practicing therapist for over 11 years. I work with adults via telehealth and specialize in helping people manage and work through chronic mental illness. My treatment areas include trauma, mood disorders, anger management, impulsive behavior, relationships, and BPD.
The first session will be an assessment so I can get to know you better. My approach is very conversational and casual. My clients have every right to interview me and ask questions to make sure I'm a good fit for them as well. We will be working as partners to help you achieve the goals you'd like to focus on in treatment. I am an active participant in our work together. I'm straightforward and confront my clients when needed to instill insight and challenge problematic thoughts and behavior that can keep them stuck in emotional turmoil. My clients can expect to leave my sessions with increased knowledge (psychoeducation), new and thought-provoking insights, skills to prevent, resist, and manage challenging emotions, thoughts, and behavior, and homework to put skills into action.
My lived experience with trauma and having worked through the trials of overcoming mental health issues via DBT, as well as my deep sense of empathy and inquisitive spirit led me to a passion for helping others who are struggling with mental health. I'm a certified Dialectical Behavior Therapy provider and Certified Personality Disorder Treatment Provider, as well as a Registered Art Therapist. My strengths lie in doing the deep level of processing and using both science and creativity to help my clients explore, address, and work through issues. My focus is to help my clients rewire the brain to navigate stress, emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal problems so that they may acquire lasting relief from symptoms and an improved well-being. I don't believe in bandaid approaches nor do I believe that simply talking about one's problems or trauma is enough to move through it.
My favorite thing about being a therapist is being able to help and see my clients overcome their hurdles. I am best positioned to serve clients who are ready to take charge of their mental health symptoms via active engagement in session and practicing learned skills and concepts outside of session via self-motivation and homework assignments.
I am a certified Dialectical Behavior Therapy treatment provider (C-DBT). DBT Focuses on helping clients improve their quality of life by teaching skills to increase distress tolerance, improve the moment and be mindful to the present, improve emotional regulation, and increase interpersonal effectiveness.
I use Cognitive Behavior Therapy to help my clients identify how certain thoughts may be unhelpful and contribute to problem behavior- we can replace these thinking patterns and learn new ways of thinking that are adaptive and help change behavior for the better.
Schema therapy is a long-term talk therapy that focuses on changing schemas, which are belief systems that people use to understand themselves and the world. Schemas are frameworks that people begin to form in childhood, particularly around their family and immediate environment. When a child's emotional needs aren't met, schemas can develop that lead to unhealthy life patterns and mental health struggles as an adult.
Psychodynamic therapy is a type of talk therapy that helps people understand how their past influences their present behavior and emotions. The goal of psychodynamic therapy is to help people gain self-awareness and insight into their personal issues, which can lead to long-term changes in behavior and personality.
Psychoanalytic therapy is a type of talk therapy that focuses on exploring unconscious thoughts, feelings, and past experiences—especially from childhood—that influence current behavior and emotional struggles. The therapist helps the client uncover and work through hidden conflicts by analyzing dreams, free associations, and patterns in relationships. The goal is to gain deep insight into the self, resolve inner conflicts, and achieve lasting emotional change. I am a registered art therapist (ATR) with a specialization in psychoanalytic art therapy. Psychoanalytic art therapy combines principles of psychoanalysis with the creative process of art-making. It uses art as a way to access unconscious thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to express with words. Clients create images freely, and the therapist helps explore the symbolic meaning of the artwork, often linking it to early life experiences, inner conflicts, or recurring emotional patterns. The goal is to bring unconscious material to awareness, foster insight, and promote emotional healing—just like in traditional psychoanalysis, but through a visual, nonverbal medium.