My Approach to Helping
Focused and Personalized
Shift your focus from surviving to creating. Change happens when we embrace the possibilities rather than the limits. We will focus on the specific changes that you want to see in your life and we will check in during every session to make sure that we are on track to meet your goals. You are unique and so is your path forward. Your therapy will be designed for your particular needs.
Mindfulness and Neuroscience
If you are caught in a negative story, I offer practices that engage the mind and body such as mindfulness, Brainspotting, EMDR and EFT. When we are stressed, we don’t think as clearly and can fall into habits of negative thoughts and emotions. Those habits leave a neurological imprint in the body. Changing your mind is only half of the solution. You have to retrain your nervous system as well and mindbody practices speed that process along.
Brief and Effective
Many people are concerned that change is only possible after years of weekly therapy. It doesn't have to be that way. "Power therapies" like EMDR and EFT accelerate change by directly addressing the habits of thought and emotion that get in your way. Expect to see lasting results in weeks and months. My priority is to help you create the change you want at the pace and cadence that works for you.
During my 28 years of expertise, I have helped people to transform their lives while focusing on several areas:
1. Trauma
A part of you may be stuck in a terrible moment from the past. Here is what your heart needs to know: It’s over. You survived. You are stronger than you think. Let’s get you into the present moment where you are safe and capable and whole.
2. Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Anxiety doesn’t exist in the present. Anxiety wants you to live in the regrets of the past and the imagined disasters of the future. If you have been experiencing anxiety or panic attacks for a while, your nervous system may actually be habituated to the hormones of stress. Have you noticed that every time you start to relax, anxiety looks for something to worry about? There is good news. You can retrain your nervous system and break this habit.
3. Workplace Stress
Most of our life is spent at work and that is a significant source of stress. Are you unhappy with what you do? Having trouble finding worklife balance? Dealing with challenging work relationships? I have personal experience managing teams of up to 250 people so I understand your challenges. Find internal and external balance by assessing what you really want from work and how to get it.
Workplace bullying is unfortunately common with 27% of people experiencing bullying at some point in their career. Typically, the most competent and conscientious are bullied by managers, colleagues, or even supervisees, who lack effective stress management and communication skills. Learn how to gain confidence effectively advocate for yourself.
4. Raising Your Financial Set Point
Is there a certain income level that you just can’t seem to break through? Have you noticed that when you approach that number, you start to mysteriously incur debt, or you spend frivolously, or you leave your job? You may have hit your financial set point. Our relationship with money reflects narratives about worthiness, safety, ease, and family loyalty. Once you identify and challenge those ideas, you can raise your set point.
5. Couples
My approach to couples work is unique in that I have you talk to me rather than each other. I talk to each of you one at a time, with your partner in listening mode. It helps each person to relax and hear the other from a different perspective.
Couples are rarely matched in terms of initiative, sex, money or neatness. Often one partner is more ambitious than the other. Or one partner is more of a planner and the other is more spontaneous. Ever argue about spending or saving? Is there tension about who is going to clean the house? Maybe you feel mismatched sexually, or you are negotiating a sexual life that includes kink or polyamory.
The most difficult thing about a conflicted or distant relationship is that you may not be happy with how you are showing up in the relationship. Break away from negative patterns and reconnect with your best self. This will help both you and your partner.