My Approach
What's helpful to know about my approach?
I was a teacher for almost 20 years - the kind that the kids seek out and the parents connect with. Through this journey I fine-tuned figuring out how people of all ages experience, process, learn, and communicate. As a therapist, this allows me to to meet clients where they are, offering a felt safety to share, untangle, heal, and create a life that works for them. The clinical approaches, modalities, diagnostic evaluations should you choose to pursue any - all of that is influenced by you, the client, and your unique story.
Clients will have opportunities to participate in activities while in and between sessions. Together we customize activities and experiences that connect the work in session to day to day life. This can involve books, music, journaling, art making lists, action items, movement - any active work is catered to what works for you! (and is totally optional)
My relationships with clients are founded on cultural humility - always seeking to understand how one’s lived experiences have impacted the way they currently view and live life. Regardless of one’s identity or culture, I commit to continuously survey my own perspective, abandoning any assumptions about another’s experience or culture.
Clinical Approaches and Modalities
Below are approaches and modalities that I am trained in or informed and skilled to offer (in alphabetical order). Note - there is obviously tons more to say about each of these. This is to give a very basic idea of the options I can work with. Choosing an approach is a collaborative effort based on your way of experiencing life and, with some understanding of the options, what you think is the best fit for you.
attachment therapy - identifies and processes attachment wounds and areas of attachment repair, working towards attachment security with self and others
cognitive behavioral therapy - helps to identify and adjust driving negative thoughts and core values that affect emotions and behaviors, thus helping a client feel and live in more fulfilling ways
dialectical behavioral therapy - practices both the acceptance of one’s reality as it is as well as the means to change aspects of it, often using mindfulness
EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) - uses bilateral stimulation to initiate memory reprocessing, allowing stuck trauma, memories, disturbances, patterns, reactions, etc. to metabolize
internal family systems - identifies “parts” within ourselves (ex. “There’s a part of me that…”), their purpose, and how to interact with them in ways that gives your fuller self a more intentioned sense of control and direction
interpersonal neurobiology - uses science as a framework to understand the interweaving of
relationships/connection with others and nervous systems
narrative therapy - offers the agency to tell and redirect one’s story through a narrative experience
psychoeducation - provides information about the neurology, nervous system, psychosocial-biological development, symptom presentation, systemic impact, etc.
relational therapy - explores the sense of self through the lens of relationships with others, often beginning with the felt-safety of the client/therapist relationship
sandtray therapy - uses a sandtray a miniature figures as a means of expression that can include visual, tactile, and kinesthetic experience beyond words
somatic experience - understands the mind-body connection and thus identifies and processes physical sensations to release stored distress
solution-focused therapy - identifies strengths and uses them to help achieve desired goals, quality life, and/or a fuller sense of self