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Welcome! I work with clients who struggle with the psychological, emotional, and physical consequences of past and or ongoing trauma, as they try to avoid repeating personal and professional mistakes that only worsen their experiences. If these challenges sound familiar, I can help you process your trauma in a supportive, validating environment, that is empowering and ultimately freeing.
From my earliest years as a psychotherapist, I have gravitated towards clients experiencing trauma, and in many ways, the reverse is true as well. This has led me to read more about, and take continuing education courses in, trauma specialities such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Polyvagal Theory. My goal is to learn more about the interconnectedness of trauma, the body, the mind, the context in which this interconnectedness occurs, and how the trauma manifests in different people. I want to learn as many ways as possible to help clients process and manage their trauma, so they can lead optimally healthy lives.
I believe the purpose of psychotherapy is to help my clients cope with everyday challenges and see how they relate to long-standing behavior patterns, and I combine trauma-focused, mindfulness, and insight-based psychotherapies to achieve this. I am compassionate, direct, and invite my clients to collaborate with me in working on their therapy goals. In addition to my trauma specialty, I treat clients with mental health symptoms, including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, and bipolar disorder, as these conditions manifest in personal (family and relationships), professional (work and layoffs), and academic sectors of life.
My guiding ethical principles center around finding commonality in our shared histories and struggles, and using this knowledge to inform client treatment and care. Let me explain: I was raised in a religious community, with strict rules about all aspects of daily life. Today, as a clinician, I see myself straddling several subgroups more or less religious, within this community , and have worked with clients in all of them. My experiences have allowed me to understand the values, frustrations, and traumas, inherent in many of their lives. Simultaneously, I have seen my community?s experiences reflected in communities other than my own. This knowledge has informed my work with people of diverse cultures and lifestyles, feeding my curiosity at ways my community?s experiences are echoed in communities of different faiths and and beliefs. The themes of traditionalism vs. modernity, control vs. freedom, for example, played out at home, at work, and in relationships, resonates across people of all cultures, my own included.
While therapy should always feel supportive and validating, your experience may have been anything but. Perhaps your therapist forgot the details of your case or tried to force an interpretation you disagreed with. Whatever the case, a bad experience does not invalidate psychotherapy altogether. Instead, it suggests that, so far, you haven't found the right therapist. While it may seem tempting to give up, I urge you to keep trying! The issues you deal with are still there, and the right therapist can help you work through them. But this time around, discuss your previous experiences with your therapist, pointing out what worked and what didn?t, and try to be specific about your current needs and goals. Finally, stay alert to signs the process doesn't feel right and be mindful of some resistance at work within you that may be making you less receptive to the process of therapy.
No matter what kind of therapy you go to, or type of therapist you see, the one thing every theory and therapist will agree on is the importance of the client-therapist alliance. As a therapist, my first task is to connect with you, irrespective of differences in our backgrounds or circumstances. Once that connection, or alliance is there, it will allow you to feel greater trust in the therapeutic process and the work we do together. And connection + trust = deeper work and greater growth.
Very often, people will have misconceptions like these about therapy: "seeing a therapist means you're weak or crazy!" or "therapy is for people who can't work out their problems themselves," or "I must have hit a real low if I need a therapist!"
The truth is, though, that seeing a therapist is a sign of strength, rather than weakness. Admitting you have a problem you can't handle by yourself, accepting you need the tools to manage your confusion, loneliness, or doubts, and realizing that you need more help than your significant other or family can give you, these are qualities that demonstrate your strength of character, unselfishness, and desire to grow. So if you're ready to see a therapist to get help with your issues, kudos to you for really showing courage and strength!
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