How I come to this work...
My work as a therapist is grounded in my doctoral-level clinical training and 14 years of licensed professional experience.
I also bring a deep personal understanding of what it means to move through pain, loss, betrayal, and relational struggle. My own journey of healing, personal and relational recovery, and transformation has shaped the way I understand this work and the way I sit with the people I serve.
Why I do this work...
I am a natural healer. I have always been deeply attuned, intuitive, and empathic, and I bring those natural gifts into my work alongside my clinical training and my own lived experiences. All three have shaped the therapist I am today.
Many of the areas I specialize in are connected to my own life experiences. My clinical training has been invaluable, and I am genuinely passionate about learning. I consider myself a lifelong learner and regularly pursue training well beyond what is required to maintain my license because I am genuinely curious about people, relationships, trauma, and the ways we heal.
But my lived experience has taught me things that formal education never could.
I understand what it's like to face parts of yourself that you spent years locking away in a closet. I've sat with the grief that comes when you finally touch unmet needs, the pain of recognizing the ways you've abandoned yourself, and the uncertainty that comes with learning to trust yourself again.
I've navigated addiction and betrayal in my own life, and I've learned what it means to overfunction—to hold everything together while feeling exhausted, quietly hoping someone will notice that I need help so I don't actually have to ask for it.
These experiences have given me a deeper understanding of the patterns we develop to feel safe, to stay connected and to survive. We learn ways of protecting ourselves and relating to others before we have the ability to consciously choose them. With awareness and intention, we can begin to understand where those patterns came from, hold them with compassion, and make different choices. We can interrupt cycles that have been carried through families and relationships for generations.
That is part of what drives me to this work. I believe healing creates more space for joy, purpose, connection, and a life that feels authentic to you. It can mean changing the patterns we repeat within ourselves, within our relationships, and sometimes into the next generation.
I believe deeply in the resilience of the human spirit. I have witnessed time and again the human capacity to learn, heal, and grow. Part of my role is to help you discover the patterns, learning, and conditioning that may be getting in the way of that growth—and to understand them well enough that you have more freedom to choose what comes next.
I am not the expert on you or your life. You are.
My experiences have simply given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be human—to adapt, to protect ourselves, to lose our way, and eventually find our way back to ourselves. They have shaped the way I listen, the questions I ask, and the compassion I bring to this work.
My approach to therapy...
My approach is informed by evidence-based psychotherapy, including attachment-focused therapy, somatic approaches, Emotion-Focused Therapy, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy.
I am a Certified Somatic Trauma Healing Foundations Practitioner (CSTFP) and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). I have also completed advanced training and supervision in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples.
I believe therapy should be individualized, experiential, and collaborative. There isn't single path to healing. The work we do together will be shaped by your history, your relationships, your goals, and what feels most meaningful to you.
At a pace and depth you guide, I may help you become more attuned to your body, understand and work with your emotions, reconnect with your intuition, clarify your values, and develop a more compassionate and trusting relationship with yourself.
In couples work, we will also pay attention to what happens between you—how each of you responds when you feel hurt, afraid, rejected, misunderstood, or disconnected, and how those patterns can begin to take over the relationship. Together, we work toward understanding what is happening beneath the conflict so that you can respond to one another with greater honesty, compassion, and choice.
For those who are open to it, spirituality may also be part of this process. I honor the ways meaning, faith, mindfulness, meditation, and personal spiritual practices can support healing and growth.
Ultimately, my role is to help you become more deeply connected to yourself—to your inner experience, your values, your voice, and your sense of what is true for you—while also developing the capacity for deeper, more authentic connection with the people who matter most to you.