You’re coming to therapy because you know there’s some deeper work to do on yourself and you’re tired of treading water. You are an emotionally intelligent person who has felt like you’ve been living and being for everyone but yourself.

Now, you’re at a crossroads. Do you stay on the path you’ve been on, the one that’s most familiar but causes you the most (familiar) pain, or do you go down another path, the one that is barely paved, but promises to take you towards something new?

The second, unfamiliar path is the one I travel down my clients with.

On this path, we uncover all of the parts of yourself that you had to silence in order to be seen and to feel loved or worthy. Little by little, we reintegrate those parts back into your self so that you no longer have to feel like a fragmented human without an authentic voice.

This is often called shadow work and/or parts therapy, and is centered around reclaiming what you had to give up to survive. You don’t have to survive in the same way and these parts of you are longing for a return home where they can be safe again.

Not only are we working with parts of you, but my bread and butter is in helping you access and uncover all of the emotions you’ve been holding in, acting out, or trying to avoid in order to keep your relationships “secure” (I’m putting that in quotes because a relationship cannot be secure if we have to deny ourselves what we feel).

Emotions that go unrecognized, denied or ignored, typically become something else: Tension headaches, stomach aches, anxiety, depression, brain fog, rumination, dissociation, and hypervigilance. When you’re able to understand and really feel your emotions, all of the energy you put into pushing them down gets redirected into something productive.

For almost all of the people I work with, the concept of having an active relationship to their emotions feels extremely foreign. After a few weeks of this work though, something starts to shift. An aha moment, if you will. It is within this space that the practice of noticing, naming, and making room to experience their emotions that change begins.

I also like to work somatically, which means being in tune with what the body has to say. The body is where we experience our emotions and it is often a neglected aspect of treatment. The beauty of learning to work with the body is that you get a deeper understanding of what you need, how certain memories affect your physiological state, and ways you can regulate your nervous system so that you can think more clearly and process your emotions more effectively.

How I Help

Together we will identify your emotions, and locate them in the body to understand their natural pathways and identify their physical makeup.

I work to assist you in understanding your emotions, why you’re having them, and how to bring them into focus so that you can work with them and not against them. I believe it’s essential to know each emotion’s role in your life so that you can face experiences from a place of empowerment and make supportive decisions for yourself.

In session, I will gently challenge you to turn away from strategies that are keeping you stuck in a painful cycle such as unconsciously pushing others away to reduce emotional closeness, creating walls to keep others away, blaming others/yourself, rationalizing/intellectualizing, and projecting feelings onto others to ward off discomfort.

I will always provide you the space to process at your own pace.  I don’t push you to meet some arbitrary expectation, rather I help you move toward what you want and walk the path with you. 

My Theoretical Orientation 

I am certified in Dynamic Emotion Focused Therapy, trained in somatic experiencing, and utilize internal family systems techniques in my work. The therapy itself is an exploration of our internal experiences which can include what we are feeling emotionally or somatically, how, noticing how we might move away from what we’re feeling by resorting to old survival strategies like intellectualization, storytelling, or avoidance behaviors, and accessing the Self (or the part of us that is curious, connected, and compassionate) is supported. In other words, you and I work together by giving caring attention to what is happening inside of you and connecting you with your choice and agency regarding how you want to attend to what’s arising. If you’re working with me using somatic experiencing, we will spend time learning the story of the body, regulating your nervous system, and helping you connect to internal resources that will support you in simply feeling better.

All of our work is centered on what you want for your self, your desire for change, and most importantly your agreement to do this kind of work. I delight in getting to know you, hear your story, and understand the parts that make you whole . I so look forward to co-creating change with you!

I work 100% online through a HIPAA compliant video software that uses Zoom. Learn more about it here. :)