How would you describe your relationship with yourself? Whether it is because of painful and difficult moments or relationships, behaviors that feel like they are out of your control, traumas that you've experienced, over time you have probably recorded some tapes that you play in your head that keep you feeling stuck. I believe that every person has the ability to change these tapes and improve their relationships with themselves. My goal is to be a compassionate and collaborative resource to improve that relationship with yourself, create an awareness of your strengths, and help you develop the skills needed to fulfill your goals. I have years of experience working with people changing their thought patterns and increasing their confidence. My specialties include body positivity/neutrality, addiction, and trauma, but I also have experience working with co-occurring disorders, depression, anxiety, interpersonal skills, life transitions, men's issues, ADHD, and many others.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
The first session is a bit different than a typical therapy session. I complete a comprehensive psychosocial evaluation, which basically just means I will be asking you a lot of questions about a lot of different areas of your life. This gives me an idea of how things might be interacting with other things to create some of the difficulties you are experiencing. From there, we can identify some therapy goals you would like to meet that we will work toward in follow-up sessions.
What treatment methods and tools do you utilize?
I primarily take a cognitive behavioral approach to therapy in general, but some of the other modalities I value and utilize often are Intuitive Eating, Health at Every Size, narrative therapy, ACT and DBT.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I am a warm, wellness-based, collaborative therapist who will work with you to create a treatment plan that makes sense for you. My passion and focus during graduate school were on increasing body positivity, improving self-image, and addressing food addiction, weight issues, and unhealthy eating patterns. This period of time and research revealed the connections among self-esteem, addictions, depression, anxiety, and (especially) trauma, and I grew to be passionate about helping others illuminate and alleviate these difficulties in their lives.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
Adults and teens (16+ y/o) with issues related to eating, body insecurity, addiction, trauma, anxiety and depression