Work with me
Choosing to begin therapy—and deciding who to work with—is personal. You may want to know whether a therapist understands what you are facing, has experience with concerns like yours, and offers approaches that may be helpful to you.
Here, you can learn more about the areas I focus on, the approaches I draw from, and what you can expect if you decide to reach out.
Areas of Focus
Life Transitions
Changes in relationships, family roles, work, health, location, or stage of life can unsettle your sense of who you are and what comes next. I work with adults navigating many kinds of change, with a particular interest in the transitions of midlife and later life.
Caregiving and Over-Responsibility
Caring for an aging parent, partner, child, or other loved one can bring meaning and closeness, but also exhaustion, grief, resentment, uncertainty, and guilt. You may also be the person everyone relies on, making it difficult to recognize your limits or make room for your own needs.
Trauma and Longstanding Patterns
Difficult or overwhelming experiences can continue to shape how you see yourself, respond to stress, and relate to others. You may find yourself repeating familiar patterns or relying on ways of protecting yourself that once helped but now leave you feeling stuck.
Approaches I Draw From
EMDR
My approach is integrative, which means our work is not limited to one method. I draw from different therapeutic approaches depending on what you are experiencing, what feels helpful to you, and how the work develops over time. You do not need to choose an approach before beginning therapy. We can consider together what may be most useful.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured approach for working with painful or overwhelming experiences that continue to feel active in the present. It can help reduce the distress connected to memories, emotions, beliefs, and physical reactions.
Internal Family Systems
IFS helps us approach the different parts of you with curiosity rather than criticism. We may explore the parts that protect, manage, avoid, criticize, or carry painful feelings, helping you develop a more compassionate relationship with yourself.
Nervous-System Regulation and Practical Skills
Stress, trauma, and prolonged responsibility can affect the nervous system, sometimes showing up as anxiety, urgency, irritability, numbness, exhaustion, or shutting down. We may use body awareness, grounding, breathing, and practical skills to help you manage difficult emotions, communicate your needs, establish boundaries, and respond with greater choice.
What to Expect
Free 15-Minute Consultation
The first step is a free 15-minute video consultation. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions, tell me what you are looking for, and share a little about what has led you to consider therapy. It also gives us both a chance to see whether working together feels like a good fit.
Beginning Therapy
If we decide to move forward, we will schedule 50-minute online sessions on a weekly or biweekly basis. During our first sessions, we will take time to understand what is happening in your life, what you would like help with, and what you hope may change. You do not need to arrive with a perfectly defined goal or tell your entire story at once.
As Our Work Develops
Therapy may move between reflection, emotional processing, nervous-system regulation, and practical skills. We will periodically consider what is helping, what may need to change, and where you would like the work to go next.
Taking the Next Step
If you are considering therapy, a consultation is simply an opportunity for us to meet, talk briefly, and see whether working together feels right.
Psychodynamic Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy explores how earlier relationships and experiences may be shaping your present emotions, expectations, and relationship patterns. Greater awareness of these influences can help you understand why certain patterns continue and create room for different choices.
