Common Themes and Populations I Work With
Self-worth and self-esteem
Body image
Perfectionism
Values exploration
Internal criticism
Guilt and shame
Burnout
Life transitions
Acculturation
Distressing memories and experiences
Grief & loss
Depression
Mindful-self compassion
Relational needs & boundaries
Relational beginnings and endings
Intimacy issues
Fertility challenges
Child-free individuals
First-generation Americans
Third-culture individuals
Multicultural & multiracial individuals
Areas of Expertise
When the Past Still Shapes the Present:
EMDR for Patterns That Keep You Stuck
We can't change the past, but we can change its impact on us. Often, memories collide with our present experience, causing emotional distress. With Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), we will identify and reprocess current and foundational memories and help build new positive, adaptive memory networks. This will bring relief and resolution in the present, and resilience and hope for the future. EMDR helps:
Reprocess upsetting memories and experiences that are still impacting your present-day functioning.
Reprocess patterns that are understood on a cognitive level but are hard to change on an emotional and behavioral level.
Healing Insecurities to Build Resilience, Ease & Self-Trust
Even the parts of ourselves that can be challenging for us and those we care about, such as our inner critic, our perfectionism, our anger, or our avoidance, have good intentions and a strong drive to protect us. The strategies they use often helped when we were children, but in adulthood they can create more problems than they solve.
With Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, we’ll use a lens of curiosity and compassion to get to know these protective parts and their motivations. This leads to greater understanding of our internal world and facilitates a process of healing our insecurities and softening our protectors as they become less maladaptive, helping us approach life and our relationships with greater ease and confidence.
Anxiety & Stress
Feelings of anxiety, such as a pervasive sense of unease, worry, or racing thoughts, can be our body's SOS signal. It’s an invitation to explore what needs our attention. I will work with you holistically to identify the causes of your anxiety and the emotions you're experiencing as a result.
In IFS therapy, anxiety is often seen as a protective response. It can soften once it is seen as a part of ourselves that is trying to get our attention and protect us from danger. We will get to know this part of you and the reason it believes anxiety is necessary.
EMDR resourcing and mindfulness techniques to support you in feeling calm and grounded.
Exploring the systems and structures in your life that may be creating prolonged anxiety. Empowering change where possible by building self-trust around needs and boundaries to help reduce stress.
Worthiness, Self-Esteem, & Identity Development
When we struggle to trust ourselves and our decision-making, we can sometimes feel as if we are in conflict with parts of ourselves. This can keep us feeling stuck and living smaller than we hoped and envisioned.
Using IFS Therapy, we will explore the parts of yourself that sometimes feel like they're working against you, such as the inner critic, perfectionism, and procrastination.
We will explore your sense of meaning and belonging through clarifying values and beliefs.
We’ll bring awareness to the social conditioning shaped by familial, societal, and generational influences.
We’ll recognize your experience within your present-day systems and their impact on the self.