Services
Psychotherapy for Adults
Individuals come to therapy for a variety of reasons and during difficult seasons. I seek to provide an empathetic and caring environment in which adults can feel safe to explore their difficulties. Within a safe, boundaried and protected relationship between client and therapist, the individual can safely begin to express, explore, resolve, and consider new choices --- too fearsome to consider without the stabilizing, protective, and caring attention of a well-trained therapist. I have extensive training in evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) such as trauma-focused CBT, enhanced CBT for eating disorders, and interpersonal therapy (IPT) for persistent and ongoing depression.
I approach therapy with adults as a collaborative effort in which we work together to clearly identify the presenting problem and the difficulties experienced. Once identified, the problem area can be examined and worked through with a variety of techniques and strategies. While I am primarily a CBT-oriented therapist, I blend CBT strategies with other psychodynamic approaches such as internal family systems (IFS), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and trauma-focused memory processing.
Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents
Every child who comes into my office is treated both individually and as part of a family system. Individual treatment includes CBT for children and adolescents as well as calming and stabilizing skills. Through CBT techniques, a child begins to recognize their thoughts and how their thoughts and beliefs affect their emotions and ultimately their behavior. Children 10 and up are very capable of observing their thoughts in this way. I use a variety of strategies, such as drawing, diagrams, sand play, role playing and games to help young people identify their thoughts and core beliefs. Through somatic awareness and calming strategies, young people can easily identify what they are feeling in their body. Children grasp quickly the feedback loop occurring among their thoughts, their body sensations and their behaviors. Working with children and teenagers in this holistic way can increase self-awareness, improve self-control and lead to self-mastery.
When I work with a child as part of a family, I can give feedback to help improve the parenting relationship. I guide parents to become sturdy leaders for their children. A sturdy leader knows their own strengths and weaknesses and thinks carefully about how to handle the challenges of being a parent. A sturdy leader is understanding and caring but doesn’t fear their child’s negative emotions, even when they’re intense. They let their child face challenges and discomfort without stepping in to fix everything, while staying close and supportive during tough times.
Treatment usually begins with a thorough assessment that can take 1 to 4 sessions. Once the assessment is completed, I develop treatment goals collaboratively with the parents and the child to guide and focus the rest of our treatment. The working phase of treatment, in which we strategically and consistently work toward the goals outlined, can vary greatly from as little as 4 working sessions to 20 working sessions depending on the age of the child, the family’s availability and commitment to treatment, and the complexity of problems addressed. Together, we decide when treatment goals have been met and move toward a plan of termination and relapse prevention including follow-up sessions at appropriate intervals.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and Aetna accepted.
Individuals come to therapy for a variety of reasons and during difficult seasons. I seek to provide an empathetic and caring environment in which adults can feel safe to explore their difficulties. Within a safe, boundaried and protected relationship between client and therapist, the individual can safely begin to express, explore, resolve, and consider new choices --- too fearsome to consider without the stabilizing, protective, and caring attention of a well-trained therapist. I have extensive training in evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) such as trauma-focused CBT, enhanced CBT for eating disorders, and interpersonal therapy (IPT) for persistent and ongoing depression.
I approach therapy with adults as a collaborative effort in which we work together to clearly identify the presenting problem and the difficulties experienced. Once identified, the problem area can be examined and worked through with a variety of techniques and strategies. While I am primarily a CBT-oriented therapist, I blend CBT strategies with other psychodynamic approaches such as internal family systems (IFS), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and trauma-focused memory processing.
Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents
Every child who comes into my office is treated both individually and as part of a family system. Individual treatment includes CBT for children and adolescents as well as calming and stabilizing skills. Through CBT techniques, a child begins to recognize their thoughts and how their thoughts and beliefs affect their emotions and ultimately their behavior. Children 10 and up are very capable of observing their thoughts in this way. I use a variety of strategies, such as drawing, diagrams, sand play, role playing and games to help young people identify their thoughts and core beliefs. Through somatic awareness and calming strategies, young people can easily identify what they are feeling in their body. Children grasp quickly the feedback loop occurring among their thoughts, their body sensations and their behaviors. Working with children and teenagers in this holistic way can increase self-awareness, improve self-control and lead to self-mastery.
When I work with a child as part of a family, I can give feedback to help improve the parenting relationship. I guide parents to become sturdy leaders for their children. A sturdy leader knows their own strengths and weaknesses and thinks carefully about how to handle the challenges of being a parent. A sturdy leader is understanding and caring but doesn’t fear their child’s negative emotions, even when they’re intense. They let their child face challenges and discomfort without stepping in to fix everything, while staying close and supportive during tough times.
Treatment usually begins with a thorough assessment that can take 1 to 4 sessions. Once the assessment is completed, I develop treatment goals collaboratively with the parents and the child to guide and focus the rest of our treatment. The working phase of treatment, in which we strategically and consistently work toward the goals outlined, can vary greatly from as little as 4 working sessions to 20 working sessions depending on the age of the child, the family’s availability and commitment to treatment, and the complexity of problems addressed. Together, we decide when treatment goals have been met and move toward a plan of termination and relapse prevention including follow-up sessions at appropriate intervals.
Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, and Aetna accepted.