My Approach to Helping
I help individuals, couples, and families improve their relationships with themselves and others.
Finding a therapist you vibe with is essential.
My approach is laid back, exploratory, and collaborative. We’ll take our time getting to know each other. I want to know your favorite song and your attachment style. Show me photos of your pets and show me the parts of you that feel cringe.
I’m here for all of it.
Together, we’ll map out your life and start to connect some dots.
I hold space as you get to know yourself better (“why am I the way I am?”), help you process (“I’m aware of how aware I am of my flaws- now what!?”), and encourage you to embrace your whole self. We are complex creatures, and the first step in changing is accepting where we are.
We’ll take a close look at your relationships- the good, the bad, and the blah- to understand how they’ve shaped and impacted you. In therapy terms, this means my approach is relational. I believe our relationships affect how we see ourselves and make sense of the world. I believe relationships can be healing, which is the role of therapy and our therapeutic relationship.
I’m an active participant in your journey, offering insight, feedback, and direction.
I listen to understand and never assume or judge. I’ll ask the hard questions but we’ll move at your pace. Therapy isn’t all serious all the time- humor heals, too! We’ll laugh, cry, and feel all the feels in between.
I believe you are your own expert: you have an innate capacity to feel, heal, grow, and thrive. I’m committed to helping you access your insight and supporting you as you create a life you feel proud of.
This isn’t easy stuff, and not everyone does it. I applaud your strength and am glad you’re here. Life doesn’t get easier, but I believe you can learn to roll with it and are capable of designing a life you love. My hope is that, through our work together, you’ll believe it too.
How My Own Struggles Made Me a Better Therapist
In short: I became a therapist because I've been a client.
Over the last decade, I've sat with my therapist (your great-grand-therapist!) once a week for 50 minutes.
I (reluctantly) went to therapy because shit hit the fan and I couldn't do it on my own anymore. She welcomed my mess and stuck with me- even when my stubborn self took over and I stormed out of her office (a few times). Sometimes "doing the work" felt uncomfortable and overwhelming and change felt impossible and scary.
At first, I really didn't like myself.
I was afraid of opening "Pandora's Box" because I thought I couldn't handle what was in there. My therapist helped me sort through it and reassured me that I could and that I didn't have to do it alone.
Life is full of paradoxes.
Looking at the parts of myself I was afraid and ashamed of actually diminished their power instead of fueling it. As Allison would say, "what you resist will persist, and what you accept will transform."
Things started to shift. I started holding myself accountable for my actions and choices. I started taking better care of myself and honoring my needs. I stopped dating shitty people and learned to be alone without being lonely.
I started feeling safe showing up as myself in relationships.
I started to enjoy my life.
Don't get me wrong- the struggle was real. Sometimes therapy felt like one step forward and two steps back. Healing isn't linear, and it takes time. I'm still a flawed human, but I'm OK with that. I learned to work with my stuff instead of letting it work me.
Along the way, I grew to love the process of therapy. I believe in its healing and transformative properties. I pursued an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology.
I'm still a client for 50 minutes each week, but now I'm a therapist, too. I earned the letters and numbers after my name because of my education and training, but I know that my life experiences are as invaluable. I love that this career enables me to continue learning and evolving, and I value empirically-supported treatment (yay science). I also believe in the profoundly healing nature of the therapeutic relationship. I'm not a "blank-slate" therapist shrouded in mystery. I believe showing up as a human, first, goes a long way.
I promise to embrace your mess- as mine once was- and go from there. I know what the other side of suffering feels like, and I can't wait for you to feel it too.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.
