Licensed to practice in California. Specializes in Attachment Issues, Childhood / Intergenerational Trauma, Couples Counseling and 3 more.
(she/her)
Clients say this provider is
Hi, I'm Zoe. If you’ve landed on my page you may be struggling with your relationships, dealing with unresolved issues from the past that keep you feeling stuck and experiencing feelings of stress, hopelessness, burn-out and make you contemplate your worth. If you relate to any of the above I am here to help! I work with adolescents age 16+, adult individuals & couples. I have a passion in helping those heal from these experiences and build the type of relationships with others and yourself that you desire. My background is within Attachment-based/Psychodynamic Therapy but I incorporate other modalities such as mindfulness, solution-focused, acceptance and commitment and internal family systems. For couples I am trained in the Gottman approach for couples therapy and use this to guide treatment while incorporating attachment themes. My approach is warm, compassionate and collaborative while also helping to challenge my clients in order to meet their goals. Due to an error on the system I am only available between 1:30-2:00pm PST to book a free 15 min consultation and do not have 1pm as a standing hour long appointment. Please feel free to message me in the portal if you have any questions regarding scheduling.
In our first session, we'll start with brief introductions, then dive into the specific challenges you're facing and what you are hoping to get out of therapy. For both individuals and couples I will first gather information on your background and history as a way for me to learn about your attachment history and gain insight into your attachment patterns.
When working with individuals and couples I tailor the treatment approach to your specific needs and pull from a variety of theories and approach to best support your goals of therapy. I believe that therapy doesn't always have to feel like a challenge and it's important to also discuss your strengths and highlight the positive moments. I believe use of humor is a great tool in the therapy space.
I am focused on working with adolescents, young adults (age 18-35) and couples (any gender) who are interested in working on relationship issues, feelings of anxiety and depressio, self-esteem/identity issues, family conflicts and complex trauma. I am trained in the Gottman method for couples therapy and have a psychodynamic/attachment focused and internal family systems approach in working with both individuals and couple clients.
I use an attachment-based approach to help you understand how your early relationships and experiences may have shaped the way you connect with others, communicate your needs, and respond to closeness, conflict, or uncertainty in relationships. We explore the patterns that may be showing up in your relationships today, not to blame the past, but to better understand where these patterns come from. Together, we work toward developing greater security in your relationships, including learning to recognize your needs, communicate them more openly, tolerate vulnerability, and respond to relationship challenges without becoming overwhelmed or losing yourself in the process. Attachment-based therapy can be particularly helpful if you find yourself repeating relationship patterns, struggling with emotional closeness, becoming anxious or avoidant in relationships, or having difficulty trusting that your needs are safe to express.
I use the Gottman Method to help couples better understand the patterns that keep them stuck in conflict, disconnection, or recurring relationship struggles. Rather than focusing on who is right or wrong, we look at what is happening between you as a couple and identify the underlying needs, emotions, and patterns driving your interactions. Gottman-informed therapy provides practical tools for improving communication, managing conflict, rebuilding trust, and strengthening emotional connection. We may work on skills such as expressing needs more effectively, responding to bids for connection, navigating differences without becoming stuck in the same arguments, and increasing friendship and intimacy. My goal is to help couples move beyond simply resolving individual conflicts and develop a stronger, more secure relationship that can withstand challenges over time.
I specialize in working with both individuals and couples with CPTSD which can contribute to anxiety and depressive disorders, self-esteem issues, substance use issues, self-harm, relationship problems and body image issues. I help those who wants to address the root of these symptoms by processing the trauma within a safe and supportive space. I take a trauma-informed approach to therapy by considering how past experiences may have shaped the way you understand yourself, relationships, safety, and the world around you. Rather than focusing only on your current symptoms or behaviors, we explore the experiences and patterns that may be underneath them. In therapy, this means creating a space where you feel respected, supported, and in control of your own process. We move at a pace that feels manageable, build awareness of how your nervous system responds to stress and relationships, and work together to develop greater emotional safety and self-trust. My goal is not to force you to revisit painful experiences before you are ready, but to help you understand how those experiences may still be influencing your life today and develop new ways of responding.
I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help clients understand the different “parts” of themselves that developed in response to past experiences, particularly experiences of inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, critical, or unsafe relationships. When attachment wounds occur, parts of us may learn to protect us by people-pleasing, overthinking, withdrawing, becoming hyper-independent, or becoming highly attuned to other people’s emotions. Rather than viewing these patterns as something that needs to be fixed or eliminated, IFS helps us approach them with curiosity and compassion. Together, we explore what these parts are trying to protect you from and what they may need in order for you to feel safer and more grounded in your relationships. This can be especially helpful when you understand intellectually that a relationship pattern isn't serving you, but still find yourself repeating it. By developing a deeper relationship with these protective parts and the underlying emotions or experiences they carry, therapy can help you respond to relationships from a greater sense of self-trust rather than fear, anxiety, or old attachment wounds.