What are your areas of expertise?

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The short answer:

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• Trauma

• Anxiety

• Depression

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The long answer:

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I love working with both teens and adults and have worked actively throughout my career to continually acquire skills and knowledge that equip me to better help you.  Working with some fully-formed brains  (adults) as well as some still-developing brains (adolescents) provides me with the perfect professional balance of clients.  Both of these populations have unique and similar challenges, I have facilitated incredible growth and success with both.

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I have extensive experience and training in working with adolescents.  I connect easily with them, which is vital to being able to earn their trust and facilitate change.  Some major contributors to adolescents' mental health challenges include loneliness, peer pressure, divorce, abuse, social media, gaming, lack of human connection, perfectionism, staggering suicide rates, availability of substances, identity issues and of course genetics.  These are all issues I have experience with and am passionate about helping teens address.

 

​I love working with adults with traumatic pasts and here is why.  Since being trained in EMDR (see resource page for information on EMDR) I have seen more healing in my clients than I ever did with just talk therapy.   This approach is extremely effective and the healing so powerful that I use it to treat not only trauma but also to address negative self image, anxiety and depression. 

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How do I schedule an appointment?

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When you choose to work with me, contact me via email or phone to schedule your initial session.  Once your initial intake session is scheduled I will email you forms that need to be completed and submitted electronically prior to your first session.  This email will also include instructions for you to create a client portal.

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What can I expect therapy to be like?

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Therapy is usually very difficult work because it requires us to be vulnerable and vulnerability can be extremely uncomfortable.  Hard work yields the greatest rewards.  I hope that clients leave every session feeling better than they entered the session feeling.  Therapy will look different for each client because the individual clients' goals serve as the map that guides therapy.  When client goals are determined I utilize a variety of theories to address individual needs.  

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How long will therapy take?

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This is a very common question that I do not have a concrete "one size fits all answer".  I have never met a client who I think needs to be in therapy forever.  My goal as a therapist is to assist you in making the changes you desire and then sending you on your way as a better version of yourself.  You get to determine when you feel like you have gained what you were hoping to from therapy. 

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How involved are parents in the treatment of their teenagers?

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I have had clients whose parents drop them off and tell me to "fix them".  I have an expectation that the parent(s) be involved and participate in some but not all sessions.  There may also be times that I request to meet with just the parent(s) and not the teenager.  

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What if I forget to cancel my session?

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I understand that life happens and clients may have to cancel sessions.  My expectation is at least 24 hour notice by phone or messaging in the patient portal.  If you fail to show up or cancel with less than 24 hour notice, you will be billed for the cost of a full session.  

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