There are many good reasons to come to therapy.
Listening attentively to what has brought you here will be our initial guide in understanding your unique position in your social, cultural, and relational worlds. Through this process, we can gain appreciation for the ways you have adapted to survive and make sense of the sources of your suffering.
Individual therapy is above all about you as an individual. This can feel wonderful and, at times, simultaneously painful. We will continuously work together to determine how the therapeutic relationship and space can honor you and your particular needs.
Specializations
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Growing up in a high control religion can leave a lasting impact. An emphasis on shame, controlling or denying parts of the self, frameworks of good vs bad, and more can feel hard to escape, even after exiting religious environments. Unwinding the internalized beliefs and the psychic structures used to survive is a process I am passionate about partnering with patients on.
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From corporate executives to PhD candidates, many people I work with have outwardly successful lives, and inner experiences of doubt, anxiety, and exhaustion. It is a burden to keep up with unreasonable standards, and can become disillusioning. Therapy can be a place to understand what this perfectionism protects from and to develop new ways of being outside of this need to perform.
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Queer and trans people are navigating an increasingly hostile world, once again. Politically or familially, many queer people I work with are dealing with the pain of this outer landscape and working through the self hate and doubt that can persist despite outward displays of self acceptance and pride.
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Finding oneself in repetitively unsatisfying relationships often brings up questions, both about the self and the other. Why can’t I seem to get what I want? How did I end up here again? Alternatively, finding oneself acting out old personal patterns in new relationships can bring up confusion. The work I do aims to make sense of these questions and others that emerge in order to facilitate new ways of relating.
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Boys are often raised from a young age to disconnect from their emotional inner world, which comes at a great cost to the men they become. Sometimes this looks like unexplained emotional responses or outbursts, acting out impulses, or a sense of inner deadness. The process of learning how to connect with oneself is rewarding work.
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When a family member has a significant mental illness or physical disability, the impact on the family system can be profound. So-called ‘well siblings’ can feel bound to roles that protect others at great cost to themselves. Attending to these unacknowledged or neglected parts of self can be both challenging and worthwhile.