This is not a traditional “About” page.
For resume-style information about my credentials and qualifications, please see below. These things are certainly important. However, when trying to select a therapist, I think that most people want to know the following:
- What is it like to work with you?
- What is a typical session like?
- How can you help me?
What is it like to work with you?
I am an introvert, but most of my clients are surprised to learn that. I think that’s because they experience me as impassioned, authentic, and compassionately firm. I’m not a “nod and smile” kind of therapist. I ask my clients to set meaningful goals when we begin our work together, and I work hard to compassionately hold people accountable, in order to support them in making meaningful change.
I am confident in my abilities as a therapist. However, I’m also realistic. If I don’t think that I have the expertise needed to assist you, I will tell you and help you find someone who is better suited for your needs.
I value authenticity in my personal life, as well as my professional life. I’m an expert in the science of psychology, and I’ve spent many years studying human behavior. However, at the end of the day, I’m just another imperfect human trying to live by my values as best I can (read: I am flawed, make plenty of mistakes, and have to do work on myself, too). I will use my training as a psychologist and the knowledge and life experience I’ve acquired along the way to help you as best I can, but I will not sit stiffly across from you, presume to know you, or tell you how you should be living your life.
What is a typical session like?
In the beginning, I will spend time getting to know you, your struggles, your strengths, and your goals for therapy. I want to understand what pains you, what inspires you, and what gives you hope.
In general, you can expect our sessions to be active and focused. I find that introducing a structure into therapy sessions typically results in clients addressing their most urgent concerns and staying focused on the goals they have set. At the beginning of each session, we will work together to set an agenda, or intention. Agenda setting will allow us to: 1) review our previous session and what you’ve been practicing since we last met, 2) set the focus/intention for the current session, 3) work on strategies, in-session, to bring you closer to your goals, and 4) set goals for practice between sessions. While I value structure in sessions, I also think that therapy should be flexible, collaborative, dynamic, energizing, and even humorous, at times. Our sessions will not be one-sided, stiff, or boring. We will use our partnership to actively work on finding effective, creative solutions to the problems you are facing.
How can you help me?
I will start by providing a safe, validating space where you can be honest and real without fearing judgment or criticism. We will work together to fully understand the problems you are facing. I will share evidence-based, effective strategies for addressing your specific problems, and I will teach you how to use them in your everyday life. Most often, these strategies will include a combination of mindfulness-based, experiential, and cognitive-behavioral skills. Throughout our work together, I will help you evaluate whether what we are doing is actually helping you.
Ready to get to work?
If my approach sounds like one that might be fitting for you, or if you have questions you need answered prior to scheduling an initial appointment, please contact me today. I look forward to hearing from you and learning how I can help.
Now, for the more "traditional" information:
I offer a number of different Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBT), including Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), to help people begin moving toward their goals. In my experience, I have found that CBT is enhanced by simultaneous growth in mindful awareness. Both mindfulness practice and CBT can help you examine thought patterns, emotional experiencing, and behaviors that may be contributing to the problems that are prompting you to seek therapy. In addition to helping with symptom reduction, mindfulness and CBT can help you become more aware of the relation between your thoughts and emotions. This awareness, combined with specific cognitive skills learned throughout CBT can be applied across situations throughout the lifespan (even after therapy is over!).
I began providing psychotherapy during my graduate training in 2004 and received my doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Indiana State University in 2008. I hold an active license to practice psychology in the state of Maryland. My practice typically consists of adults seeking to reduce symptoms of anxiety and/or shame, increase their ability to experience emotions more effectively, and build stronger, healthier relationships with important people in their lives. I have a decade’s worth of experience successfully treating post-traumatic stress disorder, with specific expertise is assisting with recovery following sexual assault. I also have special interest and expertise in perinatal women’s health, including anxiety during and following pregnancy, as well as anxiety and/or PTSD related to birth trauma.