Wherever you are beginning, I welcome you here.

All Your Relational Needs

My therapy is a space of possibility and to make sense of what has been hard to carry alone. The cost of waiting can be expensive hospitalization, divorce,  friend loss or job loss. The benefit of our work is to expand your freedom and choice by helping you become more aware of your experience. In the short term, you'll experience immediate relief. My  long-term patients' express satisfaction and report greater meaning in their relationships. Simply, our work gives you a chance to find new ways to relate to yourself, others and the world. 

My approach is different because I bring deep experience and extensive training at acute inpatient hospitals, community mental  health clinics, and college counseling settings. Your therapy is unlike anyone else's because from a foundation in psychoanalysis, I weave together  DBT, CBT, ACT, Gottman I and II, mentalization, interpersonal and emotion focused processes. My patients are suffering from anxiety, depression, attachment insecurity, trauma, and everyday misery from ostracism and loneliness. I believe that healing happens in relationships. Once we get started, you can expect relief, greater confidence, and satisfaction in relationships with others. In a time when spaces feel under threat, I want to create respite for folks with intersectional identities and the LGBTQ+ community.

My current and former patients would say that I was someone they felt understood by, that I could relate to their struggles like no one else, and helped them where they felt most stuck and ashamed. Most of my patients struggle with not allowing themselves to recognize their  needs for care. They've equated these desires with weakness and chose people in their lives that lack intimacy and connection. Through therapy they come to recognize their needs for intimacy, connection and meaning and chose loving, caring people in their lives. Although I do not rely on diagnosis; I acknowledge that it can create understanding of these needs. My current and past patients were diagnosed with OCD, OCPD, Hoarding, Avoidant personality disorder, Borderline personality disorder, Bipolar I and II, somatic and convulsive disorders, severe depression and anxiety, and adjustment. They experienced recurrent hospitalization, self-harm and suicide attempts. Now they have courage and feel smart about being able to be in satisfying relationships. They find themselves able to take risks at home, school and work. They know I am a safe harbor to return to each week. My greatest achievement has been helping patients feel more able to encounter intolerable aspects of their lives that involved: ending affairs, recovering from grief, starting new relationships and careers, better interactions with family, and confidence in their identities at any age and life stage. 

One of my first gay and gender diverse patients could not allow himself to recognize his need of care and nurturing within his family and friends. He looked at me, questioned whether I could relate. Spoke in code, due to fears of his multiple minority identities. Through our work, he gained confidence to start a new job, confront his rejecting family, and find new loving relationships. After a childhood of invalidation, a woman overcame her anxiety and depression. In our work, she gained confidence, created better boundaries, and graduated with honors in her field. A man that never left his home due to guilt, anxiety and depression received accolades in graduate school. Now he's taking in person classes. Many of my patients have experienced recurrent trauma in which one of the worst parts was being alone. A child in play therapy was able to increase his social skills  that extended to teachers and friends. Prior he would be dysregulated, self-harming and had extremely inappropriate boundaries. My first adolescent nonverbal and self-harming patient was able to work through recurrent abuse symbolically in play. Then she allowed for extensive talk therapy sessions. She had no incidents of aggression to herself and others at school. Therapy helped them all start something new.

Reaching out takes guts, especially if you have been carrying a great deal on your own. You do not need to have it all figured out before beginning. If something I've said here make sense, reach out and let's see if we can start working together.

What to expect. 

All my individual sessions are 50 minutes at $200 out of pocket which can be reimbursed with most insurance. Onboarding is easy, with no upfront cost or long term commitment. 

First Session FAQs

All you need is your courage to get through the front door. Together, we will see if there's a good fit. You get to try out what a normal session would feel like and whether to move forward. Talk as openly as you can about whatever is on your mind, without edit or censor. Then we will find a time that works for your weekly schedule.  If after one or two sessions it doesn't feel right between us, we can try to adjust or I can help you with a referral. But if you start therapy expecting to try it for a session to see what happens, you'll likely be disappointed. Research shows that good therapy takes time and a good relationship. But you decide whether or not to move forward after each session. Each session is a chance for growth. Like any seed, it doesn't happen overnight. 

If you got this far and feel anxious about a first session or overwhelmed by challenge of switching therapists, I understand. You're not alone. Reach out for a free 15 minute consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!

Services at a Glance 

• Adult Individual Psychotherapy 

• Couples Psychotherapy  

• Group Psychotherapy for Adults and Teens

• Child & Adolescent Therapy