Therapeutic Approach

My integrative approach draws upon systemic, existential, gestalt, relational and depth-oriented traditions within psychology. I believe that healing begins when we welcome parts of ourselves we’ve disowned, dissociated, or designated as undesirable. Each person’s suffering is unique, yet no one suffers alone. People in therapy invite me into their suffering through their descriptions, and I then aim to develop a sense of what is specific about their suffering as well as how it fits into a larger interpersonal, social, and cultural context.

I attempt to see people as partners on a journey. In our shared journey, I am always aware of the opportunity to highlight, articulate, and work with the people’s emotions. This collaborative activity, in which the person-in-therapy and I together give descriptive meaning to feared, forbidden or unwanted emotions (whether conscious or unconscious) is at the core of my psychotherapeutic approach. I believe that deeply experiencing difficult emotions is an essential first step before those emotions can become amenable to change. 

I find sacred purpose in helping people navigate the complexity of human relationships in all their sufferings, beauty and diversity. This includes the relationship to our self, which has often been wounded by other significant relationships-with family, partners, friends, colleagues, faith and society at large. Since depression, anxiety, and PTSD often have roots in relationship distress, my work supports the healing of relational wounds, ease emotional pain, and repair trust in our self’s inner wisdom to create a dynamic, loving life that aligns with our truth. My therapeutic style is compassionate, creative and trauma informed.