Whether it’s big stressors, life events, or just day-to-day living that causes tension in your body, anxiety and agitation can feel like a barrier to life enjoyment and function. Maybe you’re frequently worried or keep having catastrophic thoughts. Or perhaps you’re experiencing physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, shortness of breath, sweaty hands, upset stomach, and/or insomnia. I can help you with some awareness, tools, and skills to manage and unwind these experiences in both your body and mind.

How do you see yourself in your mind or when you look into a mirror? We are constantly bombarded with unrealist expectations from culture, families, and other stressors which can have a big impact on how we feel about our bodies and literally how we see ourselves. Having a negative body image, you may find yourself avoiding social situations and experience problems in relationships, depression, anger, anxiety, isolation, self-loathing, and/or an obsession with weight loss. I can help you sort out these negative feelings and help you view yourself more lovingly and positively.

Boundaries are limits we feel and/or place on others (and ourselves) to give us the space we need to be our best, most authentic selves. So much of ourselves — our time, our bodies, our emotions, our thoughts, or energies — we give or extend to other people, work, or causes. Saying “no” leaves us feeling conflicted inside — guilty (wrong), lazy, selfish, afraid, or unloving — especially if doing so seems to upset someone. I can help you learn how to listen to that signal inside your body. We can learn how to track and respond to this internal knowing and practice taking better care of ourselves and our needs. Therapy is a great place to learn and practice these skills.

Burnout is a unique type of stress. It doesn’t just come from working really long hours, even though that certainly will contribute over time. Burnout is more complex in that it can be caused by a variety of factors such as a lack of work/life balance, unclear or unrealistic job expectations, a dysfunctional workplace or home life, a lack of support, or a poor job/relationship fit, as examples. (Those who work in a helping profession are especially at risk.) Common symptoms of burnout include depression, cynicism, and lethargy. If left unaddressed, burnout can affect your physical health contributing to medical ailments such as insomnia, high cholesterol, and heart disease. If you are starting to feel burn out, it’s time to act and get the help you need.

Codependency is where you sacrifice your personal needs to try to meet the needs of others. Although it is often discussed in terms of romantic relationships, codependency can be experienced in all types of close/important relationships, including with family and friends. Someone who is codependent has an extreme focus outside themselves, and often resonates with the term “people pleaser”. Their thoughts and actions revolve around other people - or - they build their identity on helping or “saving” other people. Codependents typically experience feelings of low self-esteem, anxiety, and insecurity (frequently hurt feelings) in these relationships. They may also struggle with perfectionism and control issues. If any of this resonates with you, let’s talk about it and see how you can develop healthier, happier, and more balanced relationships in your life.

Every relationship comes with eventual conflicts and dissapointments. Navigating the challenges of life is hard enough, but when you start to feel distressed or hopeless on a regular basis about an important relationship in your life, it may be time to seek help. No matter what your issues seem to stem from (money, stress, chronic illness, mental illness, trust, emotional/physical distance, parenting, etc.), if you and another are arguing more frequently and experiencing feelings of resentment or contempt, you probably have some underlying problems to address. Because many issues in relationships are a result of communication failures, I can teach you to find new ways of talking and listening to each other to help you find your way back to compassion and common ground.

Family conflicts can be a source of everyday or long-term stress (or even abuse) arising from things like marital issues, blended family challenges, substance abuse, financial problems, politics/world views, job changes, child care or parenting styles, or even a move. Whether major or minor, ongoing family ruptures can cause distress, loneliness, and even physical ailments. Families are a mix of different personalities, needs, and communication styles, and I can help you to navigate the different dynamics.

Life transitions can be anything from an identity search, a breakup, a career change, a loss or death, relocation, and everything in between. It can feel stressful, destablizing, scary, confusing, and exhausting to experience a major life transition, even if the new thing is exciting and positive. I offer a place to process all the emotions about it and can support you to have a smoother ride through all the changes.

The term self-esteem refers to our overall evaluation of our own worth. In other words, it’s your attitude towards yourself. Self-esteem begins to take shape in childhood and can be influenced by many factors, including early experiences at home or school, familial relationships, the media, your age and role in society, and how people react to you. It is totally normal for your self-esteem to fluctuate. Where it gets sticky is if your low sense of worth leads to constant suffering, isolation, harsh self-critic voices in your head, immobilizing shame, and feeling stuck in life choices or life situations that don’t feel healthy for you, such as addictions and unhealthy relationships. Maybe you’ve been in this cycle so long you think having a constant critical voice in your head is normal. It is not! I can help you understand how this came to be and how to challenge this persistent critical voice, while strengthening a wiser one that knows the real you.

What determines a “trauma” in our life experience is how long something is stored in our bodies after a challenging event(s). We can experience these events within our family of origin, during our social and biological development, and/or in singular or repeat incidents. If you experienced emotional or physical neglect in your childhood, this can also be traumatizing. If something is still trapped in our body, we may experience fight, flight, freeze, or appease responses to every day situations. We may find ourselves in cycles of emotional distress with our partners, friends/family, and coworkers. We may feel tired of the experience of being in a trauma body. I offer a lot compassion and tools to help you on your trauma recovery journey.

I work to understand a client's background, ethnicity, and belief systems. I accommodate and respect the differences in practices, traditions, values, and opinions of different cultures and I integrate those differences into my therapeutic treatment. Culturally sensitive therapy aims to center the real experiences of a client, rather than just traditional Western therapy principles and beliefs. This approach can both help a client feel comfortable and at ease and lead to more positive therapeutic outcomes. For example, depression may look different depending on your cultural background.

The EFT process seeks to help each partner better understand their own emotional responses and those of their partner. I will look for patterns of emotional expression of the core beliefs each person carries in the relationship and identify methods to create a more secure bond, increase trust, and help the relationship grow in a healthy direction. I will observe the interactions between you both, tie this behavior into dynamics in the home, and help guide new interactions based on more open feelings. Sometimes, this includes clients discovering more emotions and feelings than they were aware they had.

The Hakomi method is a mindfulness-based, body-centered therapeutic approach. Evolved from Buddhism and other forms of meditation practice, it is founded on the principles of nonviolence, gentleness, compassion, and mindfulness. The Hakomi method regards people as self-organizing systems, organized around core memories, beliefs, and images. It then expresses itself through habits and attitudes that tend to guide people unconsciously. I can help you discover and recognize these patterns and to transform your way of being in the world by changing the “core material” that is limiting you. This approach has been shown to help people who are struggling with anxiety, depression, or trauma, in particular.

I am an Internal Family Systems-informed practitioner. IFS is an integrative approach to psychotherapy that combines systems thinking with the view that you mind is made up of separate sub-personalities, each with its own viewpoints and qualities. The focus of IFS is to get to know each of these sub-personalities and understand how they work as a whole in order to better achieve healing. IFS can be used to treat individuals, couples, and families, and it has been shown to be effective for treating a wide variety of issues, including childhood trauma, self-harm, addiction, depression, anxiety, panic, and more.

**Fun Fact: when you find yourself saying “part of me feels this way, and part of me feels that way” you are already demonstrating how we have distinct sub-personalities within our beings.

RLT and it’s techniques can spark profound and lasting transformation in people by helping them heal their relational trauma and forge ahead more unencumbered into real intimacy with others. Within the process, partners learn to develop a deep sense of personal accountability around, most often, shame and grandiosity, to support more honest communication and connection.

Somatic therapy focuses on the mind-body connection. Somatic therapy, also sometimes known as body-centered therapy, refers to approaches that integrate your physical body into the therapeutic process. It is founded on the belief that viewing the mind and body as one entity is essential to the therapeutic process. I will typically integrate elements of talk therapy with therapeutic body techniques to provide holistic healing. Somatic therapy is particularly helpful for those trying to cope with trauma, but it is also used to treat issues such as anxiety, depression, stress, relationship problems, grief, or addiction, among many others.

The Tamura Method is unique in that it emphasizes tracking the body’s muscular patterns as well as the energetic blocks that form the body-mind wounding. With the Tamura Method, you have a direct, visceral experience of your past wounding while simultaneously being held in a loving relationship. The result is a powerful, effective transformation process. This approach emphasizes my awareness of your energy and presence, as well as my ability to be openhearted and attuned to you.