Individual Psychotherapy for Adults

Who I Work With:

I work with individual adults 18 and over. Some populations I have experience working with are:

• adults who experienced trauma (all types)

• those who grew up in families with addiction/alcoholism

• those who grew up in devoutly religious families

• those who are grieving from loss (in all forms)

• individuals seeking to build intimacy and improve close relationships (not couples therapy)

• those exploring their queer identities

• Black people, Indigenous people, People of Color, and others, looking to process sociopolitical trauma and collective grief

• anyone interested in examining their implicit biases and practicing antiracism

• people interested in using mindfulness, meditation, and/or yoga practices as tools in their healing

• students and others hoping to develop life skills (assertiveness, dating, budgeting, grocery shopping, etc.)

What’s the first step to working with you?

Call or email me to set up a 30 minute consultation, of no charge or commitment. This is a time for us to get a sense of each other, ask questions, and see if we’re a good fit for working together. I recommend coming in prepared to share with me about yourself. Some ideas for questions to consider before we meet are:

• What brings you to therapy at this time? Have you been in therapy before? How did it go?

• What are you hoping to work on?

• How do you care for yourself when stressed?

• Who are the people and what are the activities/spaces that make up your life?

• What qualities are you looking for in a therapist?

How does therapy go?

After the consult, if we decide to work together, we will schedule a time to meet and I’ll send you initial documents to complete in advance of your first appointment. (Please note that if these documents are not completed in advance of our initial appointment, we cannot meet and I will ask to reschedule your intake appointment for a later date.) Our first meeting will be 50-55 minutes and I will review with you the paperwork you completed, including policies for my practice, informed consent, and confidentiality, as well as begin to review the personal information you have shared with me. The first few appointments are a time for me to get to know you better and eventually discuss my recommendations for treatment moving forward. Sometimes, this means referring you to another provider based on my scope of practice and what I learn about you from our intake.

In subsequent sessions you’ll find I can be an attuned listener, and other times, I’ll take on a more active role, asking questions, facilitating EMDR, or guiding you through mindfulness practices and yoga postures. We can decide together what works best - there’s no right or wrong way to do therapy.

What kinds of therapy do you do?

My practice is informed by a variety of different therapeutic approaches and theories, including:

• Psychodynamic theory

• Attachment theory

• Social work values

• Internal family systems

• Eastern philosophies and practices

• Somatic therapies:

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Flash Technique

  • Mindfulness and meditation

  • Yoga

  • Polyvagal Theory

Together, we will consider a combination of approaches that will be most suitable to your needs and preferences; everyone needs different things and we can find an approach that works for you.

A note on somatic therapy:

Somatic therapy is a body-based therapy that connects the mind and body to support healing. This is different than traditional “talk therapy”, which is what most of us have seen on TV or in movies, where people “talk through” and make sense of certain situations, experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Somatic therapy helps you become aware of how certain emotions or thoughts feel in your body, slow down to feel them, and see what happens when you are curious and present with them. I’m interested in helping you connect your emotions and thoughts with states and sensations felt in your body, so that an old narrative can be recalled and a new narrative can emerge. My therapy style helps you build awareness of your bodily experiences, connect with your body more deeply, and teach you to develop different ways of relating to your central nervous system so you can feel more connected to yourself and respond to life and its stresses differently than before.

What is social work and what does it have to do with therapy?

Social workers are known for viewing humans through a systemic lens - this means we are interested in viewing individuals in the context of the macro-level (e.g. race, ethnicity, politic, culture, socioeconomic status, etc.), mezzo-level (e.g. community), and micro-level (families, relationships, individual). The core values of social work include service, social justice, the dignity and worth of each person, integrity, competence, and the importance of human relationships. My approach to therapy integrates these values in order to foster deep healing at the individual (micro) level with the knowledge that the more healing, the better for all of us. More simply put, if one person engages with their own healing, they can become a better advocate, ally, and community member, and thus support others on their healing paths. Examining your own relationship to power and oppression can reveal your privileges, and also your implicit biases, and empower you to engage with the world more consciously and compassionately. I look forward to exploring this more deeply with you.

EMDR/Flash

EMDR is a somatic (body-based) therapy that helps people recover from the effects of trauma, anxiety, grief, depression, and more. The Flash Technique is derived by Phil Manfield as a supplemental modality to EMDR that helps reduce the intensity of difficult memories and experiences to make them more conducive to EMDR processing. Unlike traditional “talk therapy”, EMDR does not require a person to talk through their traumas, but rather, enables the brain to undergo its natural healing process internally by using bilateral stimulation. Forms of bilateral stimulation include eye movements, auditory pulses, hand-held pulsers, or self-administered tapping. Please visit EMDRIA for more information, or to see whether this technique may be right for you.

Yoga/Mindfulness

I was first introduced to yoga as a college freshman - at the time, I didn’t realize it, but yoga was the first time I experienced what I now know to be embodiment; not long after I started, I found myself devoted to the practice for the way it calmed my brain and body, and thus, offered me some mental clarity and a more relaxed presence in the world. Yoga continues to play a large role in my own self-study and healing, and I aim to introduce it in sessions for those interested as a means of connecting more deeply with your self, your body, thoughts, and emotions, so you can live with improved awareness and agency.

Meditation has been another welcome addition to my life and in the work I do with clients. If you have a regular meditation practice or are interested in learning about meditation, I am pleased to support you in experiencing the benefits of a meditation practice.