My therapeutic philosophy
I believe there is something fundamentally healthy and capable within every person.
Even behaviors that may seem self-defeating often developed for a reason. They may have once helped you survive, cope, belong, protect yourself, or navigate something difficult.
Instead of asking,
“What’s wrong with me?”
We can begin asking:
“What happened to me?”
“What is happening inside me?”
“What is this part of me trying to do for me?”
“What do I need now?”
Therapy can help you develop the awareness and freedom to respond to your life differently. My goal isn’t simply for you to feel better temporarily. It’s to help you develop a deeper understanding of yourself so that change can become lasting.
What guides the work
Helping people understand their responses, emotions, defenses, and patterns rather than viewing them as flaws.
Developing a different relationship with oneself rather than simply trying to eliminate unwanted thoughts, feelings, or behaviors.
Moving beyond intellectual insight to engage with emotions and experiences in the present moment.
Addressing immediate distress while also exploring the underlying patterns and experiences that contribute to it.
Creating an authentic, collaborative relationship in which people can feel seen, understood, and safe enough to explore difficult experiences.
Recognizing the interplay between thoughts, emotions, bodily experiences, relationships, personal history, and the broader systems in which people live.
Modalities
My approach integrates several therapeutic models, including Internal Family Systems (IFS), AEDP, EMDR, CBT, ACT, Emotionally Focused Therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and somatic approaches. I don’t believe in using one model for every client. I personalize treatment based on your needs, goals, personality, and what we discover together in therapy.
Internal Family Systems is an experiential model that views the mind as naturally containing different “parts,” each with its own emotions, beliefs, and protective roles.
Rather than viewing these parts as problems to eliminate, IFS approaches them with curiosity and compassion. Therapy can help you understand these different parts of yourself, develop a different relationship with them, and access a deeper sense of calm, clarity, and self-leadership.
AEDP is an experiential and relational approach that focuses on helping people process difficult emotions within a safe and supportive therapeutic relationship.
Rather than avoiding difficult emotions, we work together to help you experience, understand, and move through them in a way that promotes healing and greater emotional freedom.
EMDR is a structured psychotherapy approach that can help people process distressing and traumatic experiences that continue to affect them in the present.
My training also incorporates an IFS-informed perspective, allowing trauma work to be approached with attention to the different protective responses and internal experiences that may emerge.
CBT and ACT approaches can provide practical tools for understanding the relationship between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and values.
EFT helps individuals understand emotional patterns and attachment needs, particularly as they relate to relationships and connection.
How I work
Some people come to therapy knowing exactly what they want to work on. Others know that something isn’t right but have difficulty putting their experience into words.
Some people want practical tools and strategies. Others are looking for a deeper understanding of themselves. Most people fall somewhere in between.
We can make room for all of it.
I don’t believe that symptoms tell the whole story.
Anxiety, depression, anger, avoidance, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, and other struggles are often understandable responses to something deeper.
Rather than focusing exclusively on getting rid of symptoms, I want to understand what is underneath them.
Therapy isn’t only about talking about your life.
Many people spend years analyzing their experiences without ever having the opportunity to actually experience something different.
My approach is experiential, meaning that we pay attention not only to what happened, but also to what is happening right now.
What are you noticing as you talk about this? What emotions are coming up? What are you experiencing in your body? What thoughts or inner voices are present? What happens between us in the therapy room?
By slowing down and becoming curious about your present-moment experience, we can sometimes access emotions, needs, beliefs, and patterns that aren’t easily reached through intellectual understanding alone.
This can create opportunities for something deeper than insight: a new emotional experience.
Slowly, slowly we will get there fast.
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