I approach each session with empathy and respect for an individual’s unique experience
My Approach
In my practice, I am committed to helping individuals address the specific problems and symptoms with which they present and am also passionate about working together to understand underlying issues that may contribute to these difficulties. This often involves an integration of short-term behavioral focused approaches with longer-term, more depth- oriented interventions aimed at facilitating ongoing and lasting change.
I appreciate the complexity of the human mind and tend to view problems within the larger context of a person’s biology, life history, and current environment. This often includes an understanding of how past and present are interrelated and how this may impact individuals' experiences of themselves and their interactions with the world. Together, I work with clients to identify and understand difficult thoughts and emotions, relationship patterns, and ways of coping that may be interfering with their ability to live the life they want.
Most importantly, I approach each session with empathy and respect for an individual’s unique experience and believe that a strong relationship between a client and therapist is a critical factor in the process of healing.
Eating Disorders
A complex set of factors including biological, psychological and social/environmental factors can contribute to a vulnerability to disordered eating behaviors and body image concerns. I believe in utilizing an individualized and integrative treatment model to help people overcome a range of difficulties, including restrictive eating, chronic dieting, and bingeing and/or purging behaviors. I work with individuals to help alleviate these distressing symptoms while also facilitate a space where each person can tell his or her story. It is in each unique story that we can begin to understand the many factors that may have contributed to eating disorder symptoms and those that keep the symptoms at play.
To ensure that all facets of disordered eating are addressed, I commonly work as part of a multidisciplinary team which may include a family therapist, psychiatrist, dietitian, and/or primary care physician. It is always my goal to help individuals develop a healthier relationship with food and their bodies while also working toward an overall improved quality of life.
Self Esteem Issues
Temperament, biology, life circumstances, and cultural/environmental factors can all contribute to differences in how individuals regard themselves and what makes people feel positively or negatively about who they are. Individuals may struggle with feeling 'good enough' or may notice that factors that once helped them manage their self-esteem are no longer effective.
Perhaps you never feel satisfied regardless of how many accolades you get at work, maybe parts of your history impact your willingness to assert yourself and your needs, or possibly you're struggling to understand your identity now that you're no longer playing high school sports or your children have moved out of the house.
Difficulty maintaining a healthy self-esteem can lead to a range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, medical issues, and addictive behaviors. I help individuals understand their values, identify the origins of these values and work through trauma or life circumstances that may contribute to negative self-regard. Ultimately, it is my goal to help individuals feel grounded in their body and mind and to shift to healthier ways of viewing and sustaining themselves.
Relationship Concerns
From the moment of birth, an individual's life revolves around connection with others. Among other factors, these early
relationships and ongoing life experiences can shape one's beliefs about oneself and can influence one's ways of interacting with other people. Attachment experiences are encoded in the mind and may greatly impact one's thoughts and behaviors in relationships, often even outside of conscious awareness.
Therapy can be a useful space to understand the various ways in which one approaches relationships and to untangle repetitive patterns that may be contributing to frequent conflict, disappointment, or unfulfilling connections. The therapeutic relationship provides an opportunity to gain insight, to heal, and to experience different ways of relating that may ultimately foster healthier, more satisfying relationships with oneself and others.