Licensed to practice in Virginia and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in ADHD, Attachment Issues, Burnout
I am a licensed psychotherapist and also a board certified Drama Therapist . For 40 years I've applied the ARTS to my therapy practices. I've worked for social justice in east Africa and Romania as well as Charlottesville Virginia . I've helped people from all walks of life, all ages, genders, and nationalities, to discover the SOUL FORCE that resides within each of us.
I believe you will feel encouraged and uplifted after each session, even when we delve into painful experiences, present or past. Or maybe there is something you are anticipating in the future that we can prepare for.
I have been through a lot in my life! I can empathize with what you're going through. After listening deeply to your experience, we will work together to find solutions . I believe you KNOW on some level, and my job is to help remove obstacles to find a "way out of no way". COMPASSION is the key. I am trained in dialectical behavior therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, and internal family systems. I value bringing the body into the therapeutic process.
I love working with people who are on the cusp of a new chapter in their life, so we can acknowledge thoughts and feelings around the endings and beginnings. I specialize in reminiscence therapy and life review which works especially well with elders. My dream client would be open to visual journaling, sociodrama, mindfulness in everyday life, and perhaps incorporating a brief chair yoga/qi gong warmup.
DBT was invented by a clinician with borderline personality disorder. Nowadays, it is used in a vast array of circumstances, and has been scientifically validated as a preferably effective method.
IFS, also known as Parts Work has become extremely popular in recent years years. Recognizing that we all have wayward parts that can create challenges. The therapy process reveals the soul force/higher power/divine Will, that can integrate all the parts.
ACT was a breakthrough in my personal life: getting in the habit of recognizing thoughts as thoughts, feelings as feelings, but not letting them dominate the whole Self.
Listening to messages from the body and letting them guide our actions. Furthermore, if the client is willing, we can spend five minutes in the session doing my version of chair yoga.
I personally love working with all cultures: different ethnicities, sexual/ gender orientation, Disabilies, health challenges. Discovering the precious treasures therein, that can often be obscured by oppression.