Get to know me

In our first session together, here's what you can expect

Your first session is an important step in starting your journey toward growth, healing, and positive change. During this session, we will focus on understanding your unique experiences, needs, and goals so that we can create a personalized plan for therapy. To begin, you will complete a mental health assessment, which helps gather important information about your life history, current challenges, mental health symptoms, and overall well-being. This assessment allows me to get a clear picture of your experiences from childhood or earlier life stages to your present concerns. It also provides a foundation for tailoring our work together to address the issues that matter most to you. After the assessment, we will spend time discussing your goals for therapy. This is your opportunity to share what you hope to achieve, whether it’s reducing anxiety, managing depression, navigating life adjustments, improving relationships, addressing sexual-based concerns, or building coping skills. Together, we will explore what success in therapy looks like for you and identify any specific challenges or patterns you want to change. By the end of the session, we will have a clear plan for your therapy. Based on your assessment and the goals you share, I will explain which therapeutic modalities—such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), trauma-informed approaches, psychoeducation, or other evidence-based strategies—are likely to be most helpful for you. This plan will guide our future sessions, giving you a roadmap for achieving your goals while ensuring that our approach aligns with your needs and preferences. Throughout the session, you can expect a supportive, direct, and non-judgmental environment. I aim to create a space where you feel safe to share openly while also being encouraged to take active steps toward change. Your first session is not only about gathering information but also about beginning to build a therapeutic relationship and a foundation for meaningful work. Ultimately, the first session sets the stage for your journey in therapy. By the end, you will have a clear understanding of the process, a personalized plan tailored to your goals, and a sense of what working together will look like moving forward.

The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions

What stands out about my therapeutic approach is that I am direct, practical, and focused on helping you create meaningful change in your life. I use a combination of evidence-based methods, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), talk therapy, and EMDR, and I bring in real-world examples so you can see how to apply the skills we work on in everyday life. I’ve also lived a meaningful life and have had a wide range of experiences, which I bring to the table in therapy—helping clients feel understood, relate to me, and know they won’t be judged. What makes my approach unique is my focus on negative core belief and inner critic work, which helps you identify and undo unhealthy patterns that may have been passed down through your family or community. While this work requires effort, it provides a structured framework for change, allowing you to recognize that many of these beliefs were never meant to harm but can keep us stuck in unhelpful ways of thinking, feeling, and relating to ourselves, others, and the world. By addressing these patterns, we can create new, healthier ways of responding, thinking, and living.

The clients I'm best positioned to serve

I work best with clients who are ready to actively engage in therapy and committed to working on their personal growth. My approach is direct and structured, which means I often assign homework, practical exercises, and reflections to help you apply what we discuss in sessions to real-life situations. I am particularly experienced in supporting individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, life adjustments, and sexual-based issues, as well as those working through trauma, relationship challenges, and self-esteem concerns. I am best suited for clients who are willing to take an active role in their healing, open to exploring underlying patterns, and ready to make changes that will improve their emotional well-being and overall quality of life. In our work together, we will identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts, practice new coping strategies, and develop tools that empower you to handle challenges more effectively. If you are someone who is motivated to face your struggles head-on, willing to do the work outside of sessions, and ready to build healthier ways of thinking and behaving, I can provide guidance, accountability, and practical strategies to help you reach your goals. Together, we can create a safe, supportive, and productive environment where you can grow, heal, and move forward with confidence.

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