My Approach to Helping
I am passionate about meeting people where they are and walking with them as they work toward wholeness, health, and thriving. I take time to understand your concerns and work with you to develop goals that are realistic and reachable.
You are made up of of mind, body and spirit, and I believe paying attention to all aspects of who you are is essential to helping you maximize health and functioning. I welcome requests to collaborate with other healthcare providers to support coordination of care. My background and training have also prepared me to be sensitive and supportive of concerns about faith and spirituality.
More Info About My Practice
I accept PPO plans and am in network for most major plans. I am willing work as an out of network provider for companies I am not paneled with and to submit the claims. I will be happy provide information needed for submission to HMO plans that have out of network benefits.
How Psychotherapy Can Help
Psychotherapy can be helpful in many situations. In fact, recent research has demonstrated that psychotherapy causes changes in the brain, and can be as effective as or more effective than medication. It is widely recognized and supported by research that chronic stress can be a significant contributor to a variety of health problems, including sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal problems, and it can even negatively impact recovery from cancer. Psychotherapy can help by providing the tools to manage and minimize the impact of the stress in your life.
Relationships are important to all of us, yet we may find ourselves struggling with the relationships that are most important to us, leaving us feeling anxious or depressed. Psychotherapy can provide a place for you to examine how you are relating and to find ways to shift your relational patterns in ways that make your relationships healthier and more meaningful.
In marriages, conflict is inevitable. There is no shame in having conflict, and in keeping a healthy relationship, it is important to have the skills to mutually solve problems, and to stay emotionally connected. Psychotherapy for couples is most helpful when you seek help early before resentments lead to bitterness and hostility. If you are beginning to feel stuck or not getting past issues of conflict, consider seeking help to keep your relationship moving in a positive direction.
Why Going to Therapy Does Not Mean You are Weak or Flawed
Making a decision to come to therapy can be an intimidating one, especially if it is your first time or you had a negative experience in the past. Therapy requires a measure of strength and courage, because if means taking an honest look at yourself. Sometimes looking at ourselves or our past can be uncomfortable making us feel worse before we feel better. In truth coming to therapy is not an activity for the weak.
Before addressing painful material I believe it is important to help people develop the skills and tools they need to be able to tolerate the discomfort of remembering or processing. No one wants to leave a session feeling that they have not been given opportunity to be strongly centered in the present and be restored to a calm state.
Emotional pain is an expectable response to emotional injury. In fact pain is a natural way of letting us know there is a problem we need to attend to. Individuals who cannot feel pain tend to injure themselves more severely, because they do not get the signals that let them know they need to change course. Going to therapy is a healthy way to change our lives to avoid repeating painful patterns and to become more aware of our internal warning systems.
