LCSW, 13 years of experience
Feeling nervous about starting therapy? Completely normal! You're making a huge step to work on yourself, process trauma, and open up about things you’ve never shared before. Having a safe and comfortable therapeutic relationship to help navigate these feelings is key to successful treatment. I hope we can achieve that together. My style is relaxed, supportive, and nonjudgemental. I believe in meeting people where they are. I have over 15 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults.
Your first therapy appointment will involve me asking you several questions about yourself, your symptoms, coping mechanisms, and therapy goals so I can get an idea of where you are at and where we are going. While this can be emotionally taxing, it’s also a chance for you to open up in ways you may have never done before. Being honest is one of the best things you can do for yourself. However, it’s essential to remember that not every therapy session will be as intense as the first. It’s OK to take it at your own pace and I will meet you where you are at if you aren't quite ready to be an open book just yet. You don't ever have to talk about anything until you are ready. I will help you pace yourself and guide you through this process. As you embark on your journey to therapy, it’s important to remember that therapy is a process, and progress takes time. It’s helpful to approach therapy with an open mind, realistic expectations, and a willingness to learn about yourself.
While I rely on evidenced based practices and approaches and stay up to date with the current research, I always like to remember that therapy is more of an art more than it is a science. The therapeutic relationship is the single most important thing in predicting client's success. I love building relationships with clients and feel it is one of my biggest strengths. I like to believe that I have the ability to make clients feel at ease while also challenging them and pushing them out of their comfort zones.
I specialize in working with trauma, anxiety, depression, ADHD, parenting, and relationship issues. Some specific approaches I use regularly are EMDR, IFS, Mindfulness, CBT and DBT. I am a Certified ADHD Clinical Services Provider and specialize in working with the neurodivergent population. I am EMDR trained and have additional training in working with athletes using EMDR.
I use IFS because I have seen the transformative work it has had on clients and myself. IFS provides a helpful framework to explore internal conflicts and understand why certain behaviors or feelings arise. By recognizing that our parts act with protective and good intentions, clients gain clarity, reduce self-criticism, and cultivate self-compassion.
CBT can be incredibly effective in treating anxiety and depression. Recognizing negative thought patterns and consistently challenging and restructuring these thoughts can help make changes in the brain and ultimately reduce suffering.
We all need more mindfulness in our lives! For those dealing with chronic stress, mindfulness strategies can help use be more present in our lives, improve focus, and become more emotionally resilient. I love to incorporate a good guided meditation in my sessions.