My Approach to Helping
I believe that it is important as a psychotherapist to approach the work from a place of groundedness in my perspective and orientation, while being flexible enough to understand where you as the client are coming from and what your individual needs are. I largely work from an analytically-based relational psychotherapy perspective, though believe it is useful and necessary to draw from different treatment models to come up with a plan together with my clients that feels constructive and valuable. I work hard to find a balance between meeting my clients where they are at emotionally, and listening closely for unconscious material that may be impacting their lives in counter-productive, emotionally painful, or even harmful ways. In addition, I come from a social justice and philosophy background which very much impacts my clinical perspective and approach with clients. I understand and have deep respect for the difficult and vulnerable place people can be in when they are searching for a therapist, and encourage people interested by my approach to call with any questions to see whether we'd be a good fit.
Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With
I am skilled in working with adults, teens, and children with a trauma history, as well as the ways in which trauma is enacted in and through relationships, both romantic and otherwise. In addition to adult individuals and couples, I work quite well with difficult adolescents and pre-teens, and can tolerate a high degree of intensity in therapy sessions. I am uniquely capable of providing a containing and non-judgmental space, and am particularly interested in working with emotional issues that arise as a result of counter-culture lifestyles. Because of my social justice perspective, I am also particularly interested in working with political activists who struggle to find balance between their personal and professional lives and values.
What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist
My approach to this work is a balance between holding a deep concern around human suffering, and a passion for the human mind - how someone becomes who they are in the world, and the ways in which the ideas we hold about ourselves are enacted in and through relationships with others and our communities. I view psychotherapy as an art as well as a science, and am reticent to view peoples' struggles as "disorders" - preferring instead to think about behaviors as either working or not, depending on the perspective of my clients. I very much love what I do, and work hard to bring my passion for the work and human relationships into every therapy relationship and individual session I have.