Individual Therapy

Clients describe me as warm, insightful, direct (in a gentle way!), resourceful, and humorous when the moment calls for it. Above all, I try to show up as a real human in the room with you–not a stuffy or overly clinical therapist (even though, yes, my therapist hat will be on). I’m not afraid to slow you down when I notice you thinking about your feelings instead of actually feeling them, or to point out when I think there may be more happening underneath the surface. I’m very collaborative, which means you’ll have a say in what we focus on and I’ll ask permission before trying something new or taking us in a specific direction. I’ll also regularly check in about how things are landing for you and welcome your feedback about what is (or isn’t) working for you. 

That’s totally okay, and I’m glad you’re here considering this step for yourself! I love working with therapy newbies or first-time therapy-goers. I’m happy to help you warm up to the process, answer questions along the way, and offer insight into what to expect so you can grow more comfortable with therapy as we go. We’ll ease into it together, at a pace that feels good to you (I promise, I don’t bite!). 

You’re not alone. Therapy can offer us different things at different stages of our lives, and what we get out of it can depend on so many factors—the therapist, the approaches used, what was happening in our lives at the time, how regularly we were able to attend, or even how ready we were to be there.

Sometimes therapy was helpful, but previous symptoms or struggles resurface or new concerns arise. That doesn’t erase the progress you made before; sometimes things come back up or affect us differently as our lives evolve. Other times, people come to me with a lot of awareness about why they struggle but aren’t quite sure what to do with that awareness. And sometimes, people come to me after a negative experience in therapy. If that’s you, I really appreciate your willingness to try again; I know how hard that can be. 

Either way, I’d love to hear what did or didn’t work for you in therapy before and what you’re hoping will be different this time. We can use that information to help shape our work together.

We’ll definitely talk in therapy, but talking isn’t the only way we’ll work together. Sometimes we can understand why we feel or behave a certain way and still find ourselves having the same emotional reactions or getting stuck in the same patterns. That’s why I integrate both brain- and body-based approaches into my work.

In practice, this might look like slowing down to notice what’s happening in your body as you talk about something, tending to an emotion or inner wound as it comes up, or practicing tools together in session that help you feel safer and more grounded. The goal is to move beyond insight alone by helping your thoughts, emotions, and body work together rather than treating them separately. This process of integration can help create deeper, more lasting change in how you feel and respond to experiences in your daily life.

Yes, but we won’t live there. Our past experiences and relationships can shape how we see ourselves, relate to others, and respond to things happening in our lives today. When it’s relevant, we’ll get curious about those connections (between your past and present) and explore parts of your history that may help us better understand you. At the same time, I don’t believe we have to unpack every past experience you’ve ever had in order for therapy to be helpful. As always, you’ll have a say in what we explore and how far we go.