Therapeutic Approach

I regard clients as the experts in their own lives and do my best to approach each therapeutic relationship with a beginner’s mind and encourage a growth-oriented perspective with clients. In our first session, I'll work to establish an atmosphere of curiosity, trust, openness, and respect to get a better understanding of you and your strengths, goals, and needs. We'll use a combination of talk and experiential approaches to best fit your needs at the time. As our work progresses, I encourage clients to develop their mindfulness skills outside of session and consider this to be very helpful in Internal Family Systems work. As we explore and discuss your issues more in-depth, I'll provide a safe environment to approach uncomfortable areas or topics. When approaching these areas during experiential sessions, I'll hold space while guiding you through any difficult emotions that arise.

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Specialty Populations & Issues

            In my individual practice, I primarily work with members of the LGBTQ+ community and particularly enjoy working with queer and gender-nonconforming folx and adopt a poly/kink affirming approach. I understand these dimensions of clients’ identity to have varying degrees of impact on day-to-day concerns and strive to provide a space which is safe, welcoming, and non-judgmental, so that clients may express or explore themselves authentically.

I work best with issues related to anxiety, depression, and trauma (including religious and spiritual) primarily using the approaches described below.

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Internal Family Systems

            Internal Family Systems proceeds from the premise that the mind is ‘multiple’ – that we all have parts of ourselves that work to promote a sense of stability and groundedness. IFS also identifies parts which we may be more estranged from and protect against which may hold intense or unpleasant feelings or sensations associated with our past experiences. In IFS, we work to promote your ability to access ‘Self’, a holistic state of being that is able to act as an intermediary between our parts’ typical interactions. By accessing and proceeding from ‘Self’ in this way, we become better able to identify and disrupt dysfunctional patterns in a way that promotes non-judgment, understanding, and acceptance of parts which have historically caused disruptions to ones’ life.

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Existential-Humanistic

            Existential-humanistic approaches to therapy are centered around the meaning-making process and intended to help clients explore, process, and begin changing their responses to the human condition. In particular, this approach explores ways that clients relate to the ‘givens’ of existence, including death, isolation, meaninglessness, and freedom by connecting with others, finding meaning, and developing responsibility for ones’ self.

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Mindfulness Practices

            I consider mindfulness and meditation practices integral to therapeutic work as these practices encourage our present moment awareness and promote its acceptance in a non-judgmental way. These practices are helpful in accessing ‘Self’ from IFS approaches and developing greater awareness of ones’ reactions and patterned responses so that these can begin being changing. I conceptualize mindfulness practices from multiple perspectives, including Buddhist psychology, and work to provide clients with a basic understanding of these practices’ relationship to neurophysiology, anxiety, and trauma.

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