
Specialties
Please select an area of interest to find out more about my areas of expertise and the treatment approaches I offer.
Anxiety
Do I have anxiety? Life can be stressful, and we all worry sometimes, but worry and anxiety are different from each other. Anxiety is characterized by significant worry or nervousness that you experience most days and is hard to control. You may feel restless or on edge, physically tense, irritable, tired, have trouble concentrating, or have trouble sleeping. Sometimes these symptoms are short-lived, but if you have been experiencing them for a while and they are making it hard for you to function at work, at school, or in your relationships, it may be time to seek support.
How can therapy help? Learning about your anxiety and how it works is the first step in managing it. We then work together to integrate skills and tools from different evidence-based practices. These can include mindfulness-based interventions, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) approaches, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). We will develop a coping "toolbox" that you can use to help you be more present and engaged in your life and struggle less with your anxiety.
Depression
Do I have depression? Our mood can vary from very positive to very negative. It is affected by our relationships, our environment, our physical health, our financial situation, and many other factors. Many people experience variation in their mood but they generally have a baseline neutral or positive mood. During a depressive episode, you feel down most of the day every day. You might have less interest in things you usually enjoy, and you may experience changes in your weight/appetite, sleep patterns, and energy level. You also might feel worthless, hopeless about the future, and in some cases have thoughts of not wanting to be alive anymore. When you are going through depression, these symptoms are so significant that they interfere with your functioning at school or work, in relationships and in other areas of life. If you feel like this describes you, therapy can be a part of getting back to yourself and your life.
How can therapy help? The first step in treating depression is getting moving again and re-engaging in your daily life and relationships. Using an integrative approach drawing on techniques from behavior therapy, ACT, CBT, and relational models, we will work together to help you understand your depression and build practical skills to help you manage it more effectively and function better in all areas of your life.

Trauma
Trauma
What is trauma? The technical definition of trauma is an in event in which an individual experienced “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” (DSM-5). I would also use the word trauma in a more open-ended way to describe damaging relationships, life events, or patterns of behavior that hurt us or change us in some permanent way. People who have histories of abuse or neglect (sexual, physical, emotional, or mental) often have challenges with their mood, relationships with other people, and their sense of self. As humans we learn to adapt and survive, but those same skills which served us so well in threatening situations and relationships just don't work when trying to grow and change and become our better selves. You may find yourself repeating the same dynamics over and over again or experiencing distressing triggers that you don't know how to handle. If you're frustrated and you want to learn how to do things differently so you can have a rich and meaningful life for yourself, it might be the right time to seek therapy.
How can therapy help? Healing from interpersonal trauma requires empathy, safety, trust-building, and time. We will take it at your pace and explore how your history continues to affect you, what you would like to do differently, and develop an appreciation and respect for how your behavior patterns are trying to help you and protect you. Our further work focuses on how to begin to try and do things differently, negotiate with obstacles that may come up, and build your sense of self and your ability to be back in the driver's seat of your own life. I bring in treatment interventions from STAIR-NST, TF-CBT, and interpersonal modalities to support your treatment goals in addressing your trauma.
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Maternal Mental Health
Maternal Mental Health
What do you mean by "maternal mental health?" When I use the term "maternal mental health," I refer to the mental health of women who are pregnant or postpartum. You may also hear people refer to this ss "perinatal mental health." Pregnancy is a time of dramatic hormonal shifts and these hormonal changes can significantly impact your mood and anxiety, even if you don't have a history of anxiety, OCD, or depression. Prenatal or postpartum anxiety and mood problems are quite common and can be effectively treated. Beyond these issues, many women also experience birth trauma, changes in their relationship to their own body, and changes in their relationship with their partner following the birth of a new baby. If you are pregnant or had a baby within the past year and you are struggling, therapy can help you find yourself again during this life-altering time
How can therapy help? We often get the message that there is nothing as beautiful and amazing as pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood- and it can be- but there are also parts of that reality can be very difficult. And that is perfectly normal. Finding your footing in your new life can be a challenge, and we will first work on establishing concrete, evidence-based practices to help you feel grounded in your life. You may be experiencing postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD, or adjustment difficulties. There are specific approaches we will work on together to help your mood and anxiety and manage daily challenges. Therapy is also a safe space to process birth trauma you may have experienced and explore how your identity has been impacted by pregnancy and childbirth. We will work together to integrate your new role as a mother into who you are as a person and into your life as a whole and accept and embrace a new reality.
