How I Work
I strive to be a very transparent therapist. I like to be clear about what I’m hearing from you, what I’m thinking about, and how we collaborate to find the most useful next step. Throughout the process I am reflecting the story you’re telling me and the emotional tone as you say it, getting us beyond what you’re thinking into what you’re feeling. From here we can untangle the complex thread that is you to get more clarity and build congruence between what you feel, think, and do.
Regardless of what led you to therapy, you deserve a safe space — a place where you can arrive authentically and speak your truth without judgment.
Trauma Therapy
When we experience something traumatic, our mind and body can enter survival mode. When this lingers, it can be challenging to feel present, or even feel as if we are capable of living a full life. For those who are looking to process their trauma, I begin with a focus on stability and creating a felt sense of safety. From there, I can help you repair the internal chasms created by overwhelming experiences to move out of survival and into a place of resilience.
Sexual Health and Wellness
At the foundation of this work is consent. I listen for your permission through every part of the process, and will help you listen to your gut feelings to build confidence in your “yes” and “no.”
Whether you’re wanting support in exploring something new, or finding your way back to pleasure after a hard experience, you deserve a place to openly explore your experience. I will meet you with resources and information from my years working and being in sex-positive spaces to help you find joyful intimacy.
Individual Work
You deserve to live a fulfilling life. What this looks like will be unique, and require a tailored approach. I will listen deeply, address what is important to you, and collaborate to find themes playing out across your life. Together we will explore the next steps to bring you closer to who you want to be.
My experience has taught me to view things systemically. I work to see you, as well as who and what is around you, to identify what will be the most useful in your journey forward.
Theoretical Approaches
I work with folks regaining agency, processing sexual trauma, recovering from abuse, unburdening family-of-origin experiences, and navigating relational conflicts. I utilize several therapeutic philosophies to help clients find inner agency and navigate the world and their connections from a place of grounded resilience.
“Internal Family Systems [IFS] theory sees us as being made up of different parts all organized to help us out and keep us alive. Many of us already use a bit of this language and idea when we say things like “part of me wants to go out tonight, but part of me wants to stay home.” Using IFS, we can get to know different parts of ourselves and help reconnect parts of us that may have picked up a job that was useful in the past but has now become stuck. This model can help us bring more understanding and compassion to the pieces of ourselves we may be frustrated with or want to get rid of.
— Learn more from the IFS Institute
Too often survivors of trauma are subjected to unclear, opaque medical interventions that end up reinforcing the very aspects of the experience that were traumatizing. Trauma Informed Practice provides a framework that honors safety, agency, empowerment, and informed consent throughout every step of the process. Therapy should be a place that honors the client’s innate knowledge and power at every step of the journey.
— Learn more from the Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care
Feminist theory addresses the patriarchy but also seeks to examine and deconstruct all forms of power and oppression. Integrating our understanding of classism, racism, sexual oppression, (dis)ability, and other systemic forms of oppression helps us see challenges in a more complete light. Almost every time, a “problem” has an element that isn’t an issue to the individual, but gets treated as such because it challenges the dominant status quo in society.