Hi there-
I'm honored to be considered part of your healing journey! Therapy with me can be educational, grounding, insightful, and sometimes even silly. I love bringing humor into session, and I love talking about why your brain and nervous system do what they do. When working together, you are in the driver's seat, and I'm there holding the map. We go at your speed, and only go down the roads you choose. Oh, and I use a lot of metaphors.
Providing a safe space means acknowledging that therapy is political. You cannot improve your mental health when your basic needs are not being met or you don't feel safe in your enviornment. Safety includes being able to express yourself authentically through all of your identities - gender, sexuality, race, and cultural background. I promise to do my best to learn what makes you, you in order to provide the best therapy experience possible.
With kids, I like to balance structure and child-led play. I want your kiddo to experience an adult in charge, feel safe following someone else's lead, and hopefully learn some useful skills along the way. Play is the language of children, and it's how they communicate their experiences in a developmentally appropriate way.
I've worked in a variety of settings before ending up in private practice including clinics, schools, a sexual violence crisis center, a domestic violence shelter, and intensive outpatient for preschool-aged children. These past experiences have built my toolbox as a therapist to create a space when you can feel seen, heard, and find what you need to heal. Outside of therapy, I love being outside hiking, camping, or being on the water. As a former college swimmer, I love staying active however I can, even if it's just walking my dog!
Specialities
ANXIETY Overthinking, feeling restless, difficulty relaxing can all happen when we're anxious. For kiddos, it may mean difficulty separating, going to sleep, or exploring new places. Therapy can help you learn where the sense of worry comes from, reframe your thoughts, and allow you to live life more calmly.
DEPRESSION Struggling to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning, find the energy to accomplish tasks, or having the motivation to do what you love? For kiddos, depression might be quicker to anger or more withdrawn. We can give you the space to move through stuck emotions so life can feel brighter again.
TRAUMA Trauma symptoms can show up after any overwhelming stressful event, whether that's a common life change or something more scary. When processing trauma, we'll go slow and at your pace to reconnect with a sense of safety.
SELF ESTEEM When our inner critic becomes a little too loud, we might start to ignore our own needs to keep others happy, or overthink our social interactions. Therapy can help build confidence to remember what makes you, you, and an incredible you at that!
RELATIONSHIP THERAPY No relationship is perfect, and sometimes the negative can outweigh the positive. Therapy with families or partner(s) allows for a space to learn to communicate more effectively and build on the great things in your relationship.
EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) uses bilateral stimulation through eye movement, tapping, or a combination to help people process traumatic or stressful memories. EMDR can help reduce the emotional intensity of memories and reframe negative thought patterns about oneself and the world around them.
PC-Care Parent-Child Care is an intervention to coach caregivers on how to connect with their child through play and effectively redirect behaviors.
TF-CBT Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) helps people learn how their thoughts impact their emotions and behaviors. TF-CBT aims to build regulation skills to allow people to effectively process traumatic events.
Gottman Method The Gottman Method is a relational intervention focused on building positive connection between members of a relationship by creating shared meaning and learning effective communication skills.
Child-Led Play While many adults process their emotions and lived experiences by talking about them, children process through play. Providing a therapy space for children to lead in play allows them to work through their stressors and emotions in an authentic and developmentally appropriate way.