Individual Psychotherapy
Explore a Path of Transformation and Healing
Has managing your life become unmanageable?
Life is a creative process and as such, it is literally fraught with decisions. The choices you make define your path in life. If you're feeling stuck, you may have come to a crossroads. Perhaps you sense it's time to make a change, but aren't sure which path to take.
Change can create anxiety and fear, perhaps stopping you in your tracks and keeping you from making the progress you desire. If this is the case, it is essential that you claim your most valuable resource, your relationship with yourself.
As your therapist, I can support you to face your fears and gently guide you back on your path. By helping you to embrace your own thoughts and feelings, you can begin to know yourself more deeply. In this way, beginning therapy is like embarking on a journey, only on this journey, the destination is the self.
The Gift of Psychotherapy
with THE GIFT OF PSYCHOTHERAPY, YOU CAN LEARN TO:
Understand the way your thoughts inform your feelings
Improve your self-awareness and live more in the present
Increase your self-esteem and improve self-acceptance
Identify your fears and overcome obstacles
Organize your life and prioritize your goals
Develop more compassion for yourself and others
Relate more mindfully to challenges in your relationship
Identify and respond more consciously to your triggers
Nurture or rekindle emotional and/or sexual intimacy
Find more inner peace and contentment
Deepen your appreciation for yourself and your life
As your therapist, it is my goal to provide you the trusted relationship and guidance you need to face your challenges and get back on track.
Help for Depression
Self-Compassion Provides Light in Times of Darkness
The experience of depression comes at a high price, often interfering with satisfaction in daily life and disrupting relationships and/or work. As your psychotherapist, my intention is to support you to sort through difficult feelings and ultimately reclaim life. The first step is to develop your awareness of any unconscious, negative beliefs which may be contributing to your symptoms of depression.
Healing can take place by identifying self-destructive beliefs, challenging them, and over time replacing them with more self-compassionate ones. As therapy progresses, I will emphasize the vital role that cultivating an attitude of kindness, empathy and self-compassion can play in recovering from the experience of depression.
Mindfulness Practice to Relieve Anxiety
My strategy to help relieve symptoms of anxiety is rooted in mindfulness practice. For example, by supporting you to notice a tendency to catastrophize in the face of uncertainty, I can support your awareness of the way catastrophic thoughts may actually increase symptoms of anxiety. By encouraging you to practice mindfulness, I can help you learn to sit with not knowing, which is a more adaptive response to life’s uncertainties. By identifying and confronting catastrophic thinking, I can support you to overcome the self-destructive cycle of anxiety and feel more peace and contentment in your life.
“THERE IS NO LIGHT WITHOUT SHADOW, AND NO PSYCHIC WHOLENESS WITHOUT IMPERFECTION.”
—CARL JUNG
trauma-informed therapy
Has a traumatic experience impacted your quality of life? Trauma has a way of throwing you, your life and relationships off balance. If you feel easily triggered, suffer from depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, lack of focus, dissociation or hair-trigger anger, trauma may be at the root of your symptoms. Trauma can disrupt your equanimity, as well as wreak havoc on your relationships. Left untreated, it can embed in the nervous system as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If this is your experience, you may benefit from having a trusted guide to help process your feelings and integrate your experience.
I offer a trauma-informed lens to help you integrate split-off, unprocessed emotions. Feelings associated with trauma can show up unexpectedly, blindsiding you, as if the trauma were happening today. By processing these feelings in a safe place, you can begin to integrate your traumatic experience and find relief from your suffering. By it feeling safe enough to feel your feelings, you begin to learn your triggers, which can act as a cue for you to slow down and take a breath. By so doing, you can learn to respond consciously, rather than react impulsively to life. My hope as your therapist is to support you to restore safety, leave the past in the past, and claim a felt sense of ease in your life and relationships.
Find Acceptance, Hope and Renewal in the Wake of Grief and Loss
Loss is a universal human experience. We have all had the experience of losing something or someone that was vitally important to us. At times, grief can become paralyzing, deadening us to our feelings and cutting us off from life. If this has been your experience, you may benefit from giving yourself an opportunity to process difficult feelings in an environment of safety and trust.
As your therapist, I can provide you the guidance you may need to sort through complicated or conflicted feelings and arrive at a place of acceptance with your loss. Whether you are coping with the death of a loved one, a divorce or a breakup, my goal as your therapist is to support you to find the sense of hope and renewal allowing you to move on with life.
Reframing your Sensitivity as a Strength - help for highly sensitive people
Do you feel shy, overstimulated by crowds or exhausted after social interaction? If the world sometimes feels like too much for you, you may be what’s called a “Highly Sensitive Person,” or a HSP. In that most people are not highly sensitive, HSPs can end up feeling alienated by society, struggling with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, relationship or career challenges.
As your therapist, I can support you to learn to appreciate your sensitivity and understand it as a resource rather than a flaw. By learning to frame your sensitivity more positively, you can make strides towards increasing your self-esteem and self-confidence and ultimately reaffirm your place in the world.
For more information on being highly sensitive, as well as a HSP self-test, see: http://www.hsperson.com/pages/test.htm.)
“THE PRIVILEGE OF A LIFETIME IS BEING WHO YOU ARE.”
—JOSEPH CAMPBELL
support for relationships
Are you going through a divorce, separation or break up and finding yourself single again? Are you wondering why it seems so easy for everyone else? You are not alone. Relationships are easily one of the most meaningful parts of life. The stakes are very high, as they can be the source of your deepest fulfillment, as well as painful frustration. While I don’t work with couples in my practice, I do specialize in addressing relationship issues within the context of individual therapy. As your therapist, I can support you to:
Communicate your feelings and needs
Set healthy boundaries with your partner
Balance alone time with time spent together
Approach conflict and arguing with respect and consideration
Identify your triggers and learn ways to self-soothe
Regulate your vulnerability, overwhelm or anger
Work through relationship injuries and learn tools for repair
Address obstacles to emotional and sexual intimacy
Navigate transitions such as marriage, separation or divorce
Practice compassion for yourself and your partner
therapy provides tools for ad/hd & self-esteem
Do you struggle following through with things, organizing your tasks, or activities? Do you have difficulty remembering appointments, obligations or projects that require sustained mental attention? If so, the answer may be simpler than you think. You may have Adult AD/HD, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
As your therapist, I can support you to slow down enough to focus on self-care, reinforcing proper sleep, diet, exercise and social contact. I can help you refrain from imposing strategies that work for the majority upon yourself if they haven’t proven effective for you. Together, we can explore tools to manage your time and become more organized in daily life. With weekly therapy, these skills can grow, building confidence, while positively impacting self-esteem and reducing stress.
For an online test to see if you have symptoms of AD/HD, please visit: http://psychcentral.com/addquiz.htm
tame your inner critic & Nurture YOUR Creative Spirit
Do you identify as an artist, writer, musician or other creative type? Is your creative flow stifled because you’re struggling with self-doubts or self-criticism? If so, there is hope. The first step could be as simple as learning how to get out of your own way.
If you’re suffering as a consequence of your own self-judgments, it is imperative that you learn to turn the volume down on the voice of your inner critic, especially when it is self-destructive. As your therapist, I can offer you the tools you need to bring this self-condemning voice into proper perspective.
My intention is to provide you with the support you need to overcome your obstacles and let your creativity flourish. To thrive as an artist means something different to each of us. As your therapist, my goal is to help you to embrace your creativity and discover what being an artist means to you.
How it works
1.
You may call my voicemail or use the form below to schedule an initial telephone consultation. This initial consult will give you a chance to ask me any questions you may have, as well as schedule an online or in-person therapy appointment.
2.
In our first few sessions, you will have the opportunity to share more about yourself and the challenges you are facing. We may discuss your history, your present concerns, hopes or goals, as well as potential next steps for you.
3.
As therapy unfolds, I will listen closely, provide feedback and check in with you throughout the process. My intention is to proceed at a pace that feels safe, and to let what matters most to you direct the course of our work together.
4.
Because therapy is a collaborative relationship, your feedback on your experience with me is integral to the process. I welcome hearing your thoughts, feelings, memories and dreams. Your reflections enrich and inform the journey ahead.