Welcome
Many people just like you experience challenges in their lives. I can help you define the unique problems you are facing and help you develop some thoughts and habits that will create a healthier, happier, and more fulfilling life. You may understand how thoughts, feelings, and behavior interact and impact your relationships and merely need a caring and objective person to support you in making the best use of your knowledge, experience, and resources.
It is my belief that most people have considerable strength, wisdom, and experience to draw from and may have become stuck in some patterns or within a narrative about themselves that requires a gentle push to obtain or return to the level of confidence necessary to overcome the problems in this stage of life.
No matter if you’re on your own, with a partner, or supported by family and friends, I am here to help you reach your goals. It is a daunting task, finding a therapist. It is important to find someone that you can relate to. It is vital to find someone with whom you believe you can develop a trusting and safe relationship, and who is qualified to help find solutions and relief to the issues you face. You can find additional information about how to select the right therapist for you on my Resources page.
I provide psychotherapy to a variety of clients: adults, adolescents, couples, and families.
Individuals
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
For those adults seeking individual help, I have considerable experience using cognitive behavioral techniques, psycho-educational teaching, and dialectical behavioral therapies that have proven very effective at addressing an array of issues such as depression, mood disorders, OCD, anxiety, addiction, trauma, and interpersonal conflict.
As stated throughout this website, I believe strongly in creating an environment where folks can have a confident sense that they have found a therapist who is trusting, competent, and likable. This will be evident the first time we speak and throughout our time working together.
I am a strength-based therapist who believes we all have the capacity to overcome the challenges life can bring us and may occasionally need some help accessing or discovering these important inner resources. My education and experience working with couples and families may also prove helpful for individuals who see me, as I find many folks have relational components to their therapeutic goals.
Couples
“Restoring connection involves interrupting destructive patterns and fostering emotionally open interactions where partners feel safe to share their hidden fears and longings.”
– Sue Johnson
For couples either facing conflict and fear associated with possible separation or divorce, or those looking for a little help adjusting to life’s challenges, my use of emotionally focused couples therapy and other philosophies can help you find the love, connection, commitment, and trust that may have been damaged.
Some people are wrangling with the heartache and trauma of a betrayal or merely struggling with how to communicate effectively. There are many therapists practicing with the best of intentions who are undereducated and underqualified for the unique challenges of having two or more people in the room. My education as a marriage and family therapist, along with decades of experience, allows me to get to the roots of conflict and disconnection while helping you achieve big and lasting change.
Families
“Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
Many families need some assistance with communication, stress reduction, and coping skills. Your family may need more intensive support in changing thoughts and habits. Whether solutions are just beyond your grasp or your family relationships are in serious jeopardy, I can help.
As with most services, not all providers are created equal. My years of experience as a family therapist allow me to offer many ideas, perspectives, and skills that will assist you in finding new and lasting solutions.
Working with families offers layers of opportunity to effect change within individuals, couples, and for the entire group in ways that individual therapy can struggle to achieve. Working within the processes and dynamics of human interaction rather than merely talking about internal experiences or the content of conflict allows for more rapid, thorough, and lasting change to occur.
Salvador Minuchin spoke of family values as involving “responsibility towards others,” increased “tolerance,” “compromise,” “support,” and “flexibility,” highlighting the “continuous process of mutual accommodation.”
It is my experience and philosophy that each member of a family has an opportunity and an obligation to behave in ways that benefit, comfort, love, and support other members of the group, as it improves the lives of all.
Some people entering therapy can fear being misunderstood, scapegoated, or unfairly burdened in the process of therapy, and it is the responsibility of the therapist to help ensure all people feel heard, seen, understood, cared for, and empowered. Therapeutic change is hard and so worth the effort in the end.
Adolescents and Their Families
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are stronger in the broken places.”
– Ernest Hemingway
Adolescence is a challenging but critically important stage of life we must all navigate, and having a therapist with decades of experience and who has also raised adolescents can be a huge comfort for parents.
Working with an adolescent client struggling with complex emotional and behavioral issues requires a comprehensive, integrated approach that addresses not only the presenting behaviors but also the underlying emotional and relational dynamics. I will begin by seeking a strong, caring, and trusting relationship with the teenager and all members of the family, as this is paramount to achieving positive and sustainable outcomes. We will work together to establish a working list of strengths, resources, deficits, and ultimately, treatment goals.
By integrating communication with medical professionals, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), family systems theory, attachment theory, and emotionally focused therapy (EFT), I am able to provide holistic and effective care.
Initially, I may use principles from ACT to address immediate challenges and establish a framework for meaningful behavior change. ACT helps the teen identify their core values—such as connection, achievement, or self-respect—and commit to behaviors aligned with those values, rather than getting stuck in difficult thoughts or feelings. The focus shifts from trying to control or eliminate uncomfortable emotions to accepting them as natural parts of life and engaging in meaningful action, nonetheless. I often use mindfulness exercises to help clients observe feelings of anxiety, sadness, or frustration without being controlled by them, distinguishing between the feeling itself and the subsequent choices they make.
Family systems theory dictates that the adolescent’s presenting issues are often symptoms of broader family dynamics. I engage the entire family unit, viewing them as a system rather than placing sole blame and responsibility on the teenager. I look for strength within the family so that we can build upon it. It is far easier to make a good thing great than to make a bad thing good! My approach is less driven by labels, diagnoses, and blame and more focused on discovering power, strength, resources, and connection.
Attachment theory and EFT are essential for addressing the underlying relational insecurity often associated with adolescent struggles. I will help your teenager understand their attachment style and how past and family relationships may influence their current behaviors and difficulties with emotional regulation. The goal is to de-escalate conflict and create a more secure emotional bond between parents and children. This process allows the adolescent to feel seen, heard, and understood, fostering a secure base from which they can explore autonomy and manage difficult emotions more effectively.
In summary, this integrated approach allows me to help stabilize immediate behaviors while addressing the deeper relational and systemic issues. This comprehensive framework will not only help your child manage challenging symptoms but also foster long-term emotional resilience and healthier family connections, leading to lasting well-being.
Substance Abuse
“Everyone sees the smile; no one sees how much it costs me to wear it.”
– Unknown
A psychotherapist working with a client struggling with substance abuse must employ a comprehensive, integrated approach that addresses not only the behavioral issues but also the underlying emotional and relational dynamics. I have decades of experience working with adults, teens, and their families as they navigate all levels of substance abuse from the early stages of experimentation to the more dangerous stages of addiction.
It is through the difficulties during adolescence that maturity, responsibility, self-awareness, and Identity are cultivated. I can help you and your family find the strength, resources, and skills necessary to negotiate your way down this sometimes rocky road. Some adults may become stuck in patterns or even developmental stages of life that will require assessment, exploration, and growth, thus paving the way for sustained sobriety.
The development of a trusting and caring relationship between everyone in your family will be paramount to successful outcomes. We must ensure, via thorough assessment, the level of care needed for you or your child and family. This may require a referral to a more intensive outpatient program or even a residential program.
I am qualified to help make these decisions alongside other professionals (primary care physicians) and the family. Once it is established that outpatient treatment for you or your teenager is appropriate, we will work to address immediate safety concerns and establish clear boundaries. This involves harm reduction strategies, education on the neurobiology of addiction, and developing immediate coping skills.
Parents or partners can often be overwhelmed with fear and helplessness when they discover their loved one is using/abusing substances. It is critical that we work to establish boundaries, rules, resources, and a plan for home and in therapy that can set the stage for a return to sobriety, family engagement, and stability in the home. I will assist you or your child in the development of a thoughtful, thorough, and measurable plan to achieve and maintain sobriety.