“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself, just as I am, then I can change.” -Carl R. Rogers
Services & Specialties
My core belief as a therapist is that this work is a privilege, and people need to feel safe and respected first and foremost before I step into that position of privilege. I take time to develop a relationship and really listen with curiosity to every client before we do anything else. Therapeutic relationship, more than any approach, is paramount for counseling to be effective.
I also center my work around the belief that each of us has what we need to heal inside and around us. I see therapy as collaborative and believe all of my clients bring their own wisdom and resources that are essential to their healing. My role is to draw this innate healing ability out in others. I incorporate concepts from existential, person-centered, attachment-based, and narrative orientations into my work. However, my main areas of training and speciality are:
Internal Family Systems
IFS is an evidence-based therapy (accepted by the National Registry for Evidence-based Programs and Practices) that asserts we are all made up of parts. Why does this matter? As multifaceted people, we experience different thoughts, feelings, and desires at any given moment. However, common thought and language often confines us with singularity. We are frequently taught to identify with certain parts of ourselves and hide or ignore others, keeping us stuck in fracture. The parts we are conditioned to hide are often parts of us that most need to be felt, witnessed, and honored. These hidden or shameful parts of ourselves often mark places in our lives where we’ve made sacrifices and hard choices to protect ourselves when there were no better options. It is key to integrate these parts if we want to live in wholeness. Together, we can explore the story these parts hold and what needs to happen to offload the pain these parts carry so that you can return to your true self. Imagine how you could live if the energy you spend being worried, angry, controlling, or addicted was freed up and accessible to you again. It is possible to transform worry into wisdom, anger into assertiveness, control into caring, and addiction into adventure. IFS is compassionate and non-shaming; it welcomes you, perhaps truly for the first time, to be all of who you are.
"IFS is more than a therapeutic technique. It is a conceptual framework and practice for developing love for ourselves and each other." -Richard Schwartz
Art Therapy
In art therapy, art transcends aesthetics and serves as a tool for communication. Whether you make art in session, outside of session, or both, the good news is there are no prerequisites of skill level or talent required. Art therapy is like writing a story: it isn’t the quality of your handwriting, but what you have to say that matters. Art is therapeutic because it’s a natural truth-teller and it enables us to physically externalize the intangible. It gets us out of our heads and physically immerses us in the present, where we move from analyzing our experience to, well…experiencing it! Interestingly, trauma activates the same parts of the brain that we use when we create which is why, sometimes, we can put a picture to something that we just can’t capture in the same way with words. Art therapy also gives us a way to focus on you without the direct attention that can feel overwhelming for some in traditional therapy. Together, we can explore materials and styles that meet you where you are and move you toward your goals. I would love to hold brave space while you find your creative voice and I invite you to be curious about what your hands have to say.
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way- things I had no words for.” -Georgia O’Keeffe
Who can benefit from these techniques?
These techniques can be used with people experiencing issues such as:
Trauma, including childhood trauma and abuse
Depression
Anxiety
Anger
Perfectionism & control
Grief
Addictive behaviors
Self-Esteem
Attachment wounds
Boundaries & codependency
Spirituality concerns
Creative blocks, burnout, & compassion fatigue