Banner photo by Ruben Hopwood

Worried? Feeling numb? Hiding who you are?

psychotherapy can help you create balance in your life and live more authentically.

I work with people to slow down, recognize their emotions, and communicate their needs to others. I help people to find their way to live authentically, with self-acceptance and compassion. I work with socially anxious people to reduce their worries and increase comfort around others. I support people to understand their patterns of thinking and behaving to build more satisfying relationships.

Reach out for a free 15 minute phone consultation to start therapy with me.

Want to know more about what therapy may be like?

In therapy, I ask questions like…

Do you have life goals that you want to reach, but you feel blocked from them? Are you being who you want to be in your life and what stops you from being fully yourself? Do you feel distant people in your life or like you are numb? Do you have trouble identifying what you are feeling? Do you only seem to feel angry, worried, or sad? Would you like to communicate your needs to others more clearly? Are you ready to explore your beliefs, your behaviors, your patterns, and your frustrations within your own life and make intentional changes in yourself?

I help people explore and talk about things like…

What gets in the way of your goals? When have you faced similar struggles in the past? What do you do to get through difficult experiences or emotions? What are you most afraid will happen if you live your life as fully as you want to? Where do you find support in life? What do you want to change the most? What do you want to create in your life? What do you like about your current life?

I help people explore some of their past experiences, their values, and current behaviors. I support people as they discover new perspectives, deepen understanding of themselves and others, and create pathways to reach their life goals. People report they feel better, feel less anxious, and have more satisfying lives and relationships when they have worked in therapy with me.

Would you like to understand what is holding you back from creating the life you love? Contact me and we can talk about how the process of therapy can help you create a better quality of life.

Treatment approaches i draw upon

Existential Therapy (learn more)
Humanistic Therapy (learn more)
Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) (learn more)
Mindfulness Practices (learn more)
Psychodynamic Therapy (learn more)
Supportive Therapy (learn more)
Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy (learn more)

Common Focus areas in treatment

Spirituality & religion – Exploring beliefs and practices related to meaning, purpose, existence, spiritual health and healing; developing deeper felt connections with the spiritual dimension of one's life; integrating spirituality, faith, beliefs, and practices into psychotherapy
Issues of masculinity – Including grappling with the impact of cultural norms of masculinity on everyone, what it means to be a man or male in this society (U.S.A.), impact on psychological health and relationships from cultural masculinity norms and stereotypes
Identity exploration – Exploring internal identity conflicts and concerns, including LGBTQ+, faith/religious, and other cultural, social and economic identities and experiences; support to enable the process of identity clarification, integration, and expression without negative self-judgement
Self-expression – Support to explore positive self-expression that acknowledges and reflects the inherent worth and dignity of the variety of people’s experiences, values, needs, and builds confidence and self-advocacy skills
Mindfulness – Practices to encourage a state of active, open, non-judgmental attention in the present, self-acceptance, compassion for self and others, building calming and grounding practices to reduce anxiety, building self-esteem, and creating or strengthening spiritual practices

General cinical concerns

Anxiety – Coping with excessive worry, nervousness, or stress; reducing discomfort in social settings (social anxiety); interrupting patterns of catastrophic thinking [Note: some anxiety conditions may benefit from or require support of an anxiety reducing medication at times to help managing symptoms while building additional skills.]
Depression – Support while learning skills to help reduce hopelessness, low motivation and energy, sadness, irritability, sleep disturbance, and loss of interest and pleasure in life [Note: treatment of depression may benefit from or require a combination of mood stabilizing medication and therapy at times.]
Existential crisis – Supporting exploration of meaning and purpose in one’s life; finding one’s path in the face of existential or ambiguous anxiety, dread, and feelings of meaninglessness, hopelessness, loss of spirituality, faith, and/or beliefs [Note: this may overlap with depressive symptoms and may need different approaches to treatment as a result.]
Life transitions – Coping with difficult or significant life changes, such as moving to a new area, relationship and family transitions, parenting, career changes; death, losses, and grief

additional areas of exploration and support

Sexuality & Sexual Expression — Exploring romantic and erotic attraction, practices, and challenges; encouraging self-awareness, integrating sexual expression into one’s life; defining/redefining relationships, communicating and negotiating intimacy

Alternative Lifestyles & Relationships (LGBTQ+, Kink, Poly, Ethical Nonmonogamy) — Positive support for people with “alternative lifestyle” interests and activities; negotiating multi-partner romantic relationships; learning boundaries; interpersonal communication skills; safety and setting limits for safe play; coping with discrimination and disclosure

LGBTQ+ & Alternative Parenting — Support around the stress and challenges of parenting in socially defined non-traditional family structures; work-life balance; methods for creating families, support during medically assisted conception, pregnancy, birth, and parenting struggles