My Approach to Helping
My goal is to help you uncover your strengths, build values-based coping strategies, and embark on a journey of personal growth. If you’re ready to find a way to better manage your distress and pain, you’ve found the right place. In this work, I've found one of the best ways to work through emotional pain is to first allow yourself to feel it. I often work to help clients change their relationship with their emotions from one of avoidance to acceptance. I work with an attachment lens, and see value in attending to emotional injuries and pain, while also exploring the influence of early experiences.
I strive to be culturally responsive, and place a great emphasis on developing a strong, authentic connection with my clients. Additionally, I have special interests and expertise in couples therapy, gender-affirming care, grief counseling, and working with LGBTQIA2S+ clients. I am a queer-affirming therapist, and center acceptance and openness in my practice.
I collaboratively develop a plan for healing that works for each individual. I often consult current empirical research in order to make sure each of my clients is getting the best and most updated care available. If you are hoping to grow, heal, or accept yourself, send me a message and we can start discussing a personalized treatment plan for you.
More Info About My Practice
My practice is currently telehealth only, and does not accept insurance. I offer free 15 minute initial consultations to figure out if we're a good fit for therapy, and to give you the opportunity to ask any questions you might have.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
Gender-affirming care:
I am a gender-affirming and queer-affirming therapist, and promote openness and acceptance in my practice. I offer transaffirmative care, and have worked with several clients at various stages through their gender identity journey. I also have experience with letter-writing for gender affirming services.
Grief:
I believe that grief and loss manifests from many experiences. It might be the loss of a loved one, an important relationship ending, a new life transition, mourning the loss of an imagined future. I've found that allowing ourselves to sit with the grief can help us process it. Allowing your grief to be witnessed can be powerful and healing.
Couples and Relationships:
I have years of training, research, and clinical experience in working with couples. I have conducted and published research on couples therapy, relationship satisfaction, and attachment issues, and have put much of this expertise into practice with couples I have worked with. I work with couples to improve communication, navigate conflict, manage insecurities, overcome previous emotional injuries, and improve overall satisfaction.
My Therapy Focus
I specialize in emotion-focused and attachment-based therapies to support clients in navigating their emotional experiences and enhancing relational dynamics. Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) helps individuals explore and process their emotions in a safe, supportive environment, enabling them to gain deeper insights and develop healthier coping strategies. By focusing on the emotional experience at the heart of issues, I work with clients to help them connect with their feelings (instead of avoiding them) and achieve meaningful change.
Incorporating attachment-based methods, I emphasize the importance of early relationships and how they influence current behavior and relationship patterns. This approach helps clients understand how their attachment patterns impact their interactions, their relationships, and their own self view. Doing so can help in fostering more secure and fulfilling relationships overall.
Important Factors for Choosing a Therapist
The match between a therapist and client is crucial for effective therapy. A good match means the therapist can understand and respond to the client's unique experiences and perspectives, and create a strong foundation for trust and openness. A strong therapist-client match fosters a supportive environment where clients feel safe and motivated to engage deeply in their personal growth and healing journey. I offer free 15-minute phone consultations so we can figure out if we?re a good match before moving forward. I invite you to ask me any questions that can help you determine if I?m the right therapist for you.
Importance of the Client-Therapist Alliance
The genuine therapeutic relationship formed between a client and therapist is one of the greatest determinants of therapy outcome. Research shows that if clients feel connected to their therapist, positive change is more likely to happen. As your therapist I will focus on forming an authentic connection with you so that you can feel safe to share openly and without fear of judgment. I'll always be transparent with you about any treatment planning, and I'll be forthcoming about what I'm thinking. I am intentional about creating therapeutic alliances with clients that feel open, safe, transparent, authentic, and meaningful. After all, you're in therapy for healing, and sometimes finding a safe space with someone can be the start.
