Specialties
Obsessive Compulsive-Disorder (OCD)
OCD is a unique disorder that requires informed and specific treatment. Many individuals with OCD have been previously diagnosed and treated for an anxiety disorder. While OCD shares some characteristics of an anxiety disorder, it presents with key differences that can make traditional approaches to anxiety treatment only effective for a short period of time, ineffective entirely, or even inflammatory to the symptoms of OCD. Moreover, these treatments can sometimes leave those with OCD feeling misunderstood or frustrated. Understanding OCD as a unique disorder and receiving treatment tailored to the specific mechanisms and challenges is essential. Entering treatment can be daunting, but informed treatment will work with you to find your threshold for addressing symptoms and help you address those symptoms at your own pace.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is so much more than the extreme high and low mood episodes. Residual symptoms are often disregarded, although debilitating. Medication often addresses mania, but falls short of addressing depression. Mood lability in between episodes and the impact of episodes on a person’s self-concept are ignored. Learning coping skills to help manage and prevent episodes is essential, but so is having a space to process and understand the complex emotional and practical consequences of living with bipolar disorder. Therapy can also provide an outlet for understanding factors that may trigger episodes, or complicate symptoms (past traumas, stress, relationship dynamics, etc.). Bipolar disorder often feels isolating and overwhelming. Having a space to learn how to manage and understand it (and yourself) can help you live a life where you feel fulfilled.
Child/Pediatric Psychotherapy
Children’s emotional needs are just as complex as adult’s. They just don’t know how to put them into words the same way we do. These needs change and evolve so quickly throughout the child, adolescent, and teenage years, it can be hard for parents to stay in tune with these changes and how to guide their children through them. Learning effective emotional communication, regulation, and coping skills as early as possible sets your child up for a lifetime of higher self-esteem, emotional regulation skills, emotional intelligence, openness to new experiences, and healthy relationships. The developmental years are also the time for self exploration and understanding, so that your child or teen can embark on each stage of their life with more confidence and insight into who they are and what they need. If your child is showing signs of anxiety, excessive sadness, mood dysregulation, phobias, obsessive-compulsive traits, or has experienced significant adversity or trauma, therapy can make a tremendous impact on their wellbeing. Early intervention is the key to managing these symptoms or conditions to preserve the quality of their childhood and set them up for a thriving transition into adulthood. I use an emotionally-focused approach, with cognitive and behavioral skills woven in, to uncover the root of the problem, the factors maintaining it, and how we can help keeping it from impeding your child or teen’s developmental years. It’s never too early to demonstrate the importance of seeking support when you need it.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
At its core, BPD is a disorder of emotional dysregulation. If you have BPD, you have likely experienced chronically invalidating environments, which led emotions to be a confusing and feared thing, rather than a healthy part of the human experience. As a result, you may swing from intense emotions that feel like they are controlling you to repressing your emotions completely as a way to regain some control. Either way, your emotions have probably had such a strong grip that they have guided your behavior, leading to shame, confusion, sadness, anxiety, and/or an unclear sense of self. Seeking treatment for BPD is challenging. The thought of explaining how your emotions have guided your behavior can trigger shame, or fear that the therapy environment will be as invalidating as your previous environments. My approach to treatment for BPD is to help you find a safe environment to be honest without feeling judged, understand and heal from your painful experiences in the past, and learn practical skills to improve your emotional wellbeing and relationships.