“We have in our hearts whole cities, peopled with all kinds of ghosts.”
“There is no such thing as a ‘bad’ response; there are only adaptive responses. The primary point is that our nervous system is trying to do the right thing — and we need to respect what it has done.
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A sudden loss, a broken heart, and overwhelming experiences are frequently inroads to inner work, growth, transformation, and healing.
I have had the honor of working beside many individuals over the last 15 years who have been on a journey towards overcoming fears, accessing inner wisdom, reclaiming a sense of choice in their lives and learning to feel safe in the world again.
It is my hope to reduce stigma around psychotherapy and inner work. In our sessions, I bring gentle firmness, empathic attunement, humor and an appreciation for human complexity. I utilize EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and depth psychology approaches to help you work through sometimes subtle or unseen disruptions that impact mental wellness.
EMDR therapy is different from other styles of therapy you may have encountered. It does not require discussing in detail past distressing experiences, but instead assists the brain in resuming its natural healing process. EMDR is designed to resolve unprocessed distressing memories.
In sessions, I help individuals learn how their bodies, behaviors and emotional life may have adapted to past overwhelming experiences, to understand how symptoms and reactions aren’t to be shamed but to be understood and honored. I assist individuals in using their own self-healing capabilities as a way to access peace, safety and choice. Too often thought patterns of self- criticism and feelings of shame can predominate. In our work together, with the support of EMDR and other trauma-informed strategies, you can begin to reclaim your ability to be present and to take steps towards building internal bridges to safety, connection and joy.
I provide therapy to adults with presentations of anxiety, PTSD, grief, difficulty feeling emotionally safe in relationships and loss of meaning in life. I assist people who have become reliant on food, work, technology or substances to numb symptoms and emotions. Many individuals I collaborate with in therapy have experienced chronic overwhelming experiences or traumatic stress in childhood. I also work with people in the helping professions including front line workers, first responders and others who have experienced work-related burnout or compassion fatigue.