About Me

What Therapy With Me Looks Like

Being human is hard. I affirm your effort to care for your self by seeking the support of a therapist. By no fault of our own, we do not always know how to cope with or manage every situation or feeling we find ourselves experiencing.

I want you to feel that you are not so alone – that you matter, and that you are seen and heard, no matter what you may be going through. I seek to make a genuine connection with you.

In my office, you can show up exactly as you are: heartbroken, confused, excited, grieving, hopeful, anxious, angry, lonely, depressed, unsure, and know that, no matter what you’re experiencing, I will provide a safe, comfortable, and accepting space for you to fully experience it without judgment.

Throughout our work together, I aim to meet you exactly where you are and support you in growing in the ways you want to grow. Our work together will be marked by compassion, empathy, trust, and boundaries that help you feel respected yet seen. I’ll get curious and ask questions and sometimes hold space for silence. I’ll accompany you through laughter and tears and discomfort, and lean in to what you feel to help you get through it. I’ll honor exactly where you are in the moment while gently highlighting opportunities to move beyond your comfort zone when you are ready.

My Approach

I bring an open heart and my authentic self to therapy. I bring warmth, collaboration, curiosity, and a holistic lens to understand who you are as a whole person. I take a trauma-informed approach that promotes resilience, relief from troubling symptoms, effective coping skills, and transformation in your relationship to your self and with others.  I draw from several different schools of practice that all place importance on building an authentic relationship with you: one that is safe, that allows for honest expression of emotions and thoughts, and that considers you in mind-body-spirit.

Lenses and elements I integrate often:

  • Mindfulness practices
  • Self-compassion practices
  • Narrative Therapy
  • Family systems
  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
  • Somatic Practices
  • Experiential Psychotherapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (CBT)
  • Internal Family Systems
  • Social Justice
  • Writing practices

Core Beliefs and Guiding Principles of My Work

My beliefs and intentions about therapy and our relationship influence our work together. Some of my guiding principles are:

  • All people have a natural impulse toward health and healing that strengthens when it is supported and nurtured.
  • Therapy is collaborative, not forceful.
  • Our therapy relationship is a place where you can use me to track your response to another person and to try out new behaviors and ways of being.
  • When we step out of auto-pilot we gain more freedom, choice, and often relief; we also gain the ability to make more informed decisions about our lives.
  • We get stuck in old ideas about ourselves that may no longer be true. Updating these beliefs enables new behaviors and a new sense of self.
  • Using the body to connect with the present moment is one way to step out of auto-pilot.
  • Working deeply on ourselves creates room for lasting change.
  • Therapy, like life, does not happen in a bubble. Our cultural factors are inseparable from our experiences in the world.
  • All people deserve the same safe, accepting, and compassionate therapy experiences, regardless of race, sexual orientation, age, religion, size,gender identification, and physical ability.

Background and Education

I completed a masters of arts in counseling degree in 2011 from Eastern Mennonite University and have nine years of post-graduate experience working clinically with children through adults. I have special knowledge of emotion-focused therapy for adults, complex trauma in children and adults, play therapy, and mindfulness techniques. I’m also working toward a certification in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy. In addition to my New York and Virginia licenses to practice mental health counseling, I am a Nationally Certified Counselor, having met standards for education, training, and experience set by the professional counseling community nationwide.

I am accountable to the American Counseling Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association, New York Mental Health Counselors Association, Virginia Board of Counseling, and the Association for Play Therapy. I am also a Nationally Certified Counselor through the National Board of Certified Counselors.

Ethics: I conduct my counseling practice within the ethical codes of the American Counseling Association and the American Mental Health Counselors Association.