Welcome to my practice. I absolutely love what I do, even almost three decades in. The reason is that people get better. Whether I am working to help someone restore damaged self esteem from a difficult childhood, change their dating patterns to attract more appropriate partners, working on chronic depression or anxiety or helping couples learn to relate in more fulfilling ways, seeing people achieve what they want in their lives is the most gratifying thing I can imagine doing. I started working with people in crisis in 1983 as a high school student volunteering on a mental health crisis line. Learning that listening and giving people space to talk through their complex emotions led me to pursue an undergraduate and doctorate degree in psychology. My ultimate goal was to establish a private practice in which I could give high quality care to individuals while continuing to learn and grow as a human myself. I am so blessed to have achieved this goal and continue to love what I do.

The theories that guide my work include psychodynamic, attachment and humanistic approaches. Psychodynamic psychotherapy believes in the presence of the unconscious mind. From this perspective we assume that people don’t always know why they do what they do. Current neuroscience research indicates that, in fact, about 90% of what we do during the day is not under our conscious control! The goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy is to help unearth subconscious conflicts so that you can know your own mind better and resolve conflicts in the conscious realm. Attachment theory adds an interpersonal dynamic, looking at the biological and evolutionary systems that are meant to bond children and parents together. This system is also used for romantic attachments and is part of how I work with couples. The humanistic school believes that all humans strive towards growth if obstacles and wounds are properly addressed. It also emphasizes that therapists are just people and we are all on the same level. Through integration of these theories and the use of a variety of assessment measures I create personalized treatment plans that aim to address your core wounds and maladaptive patterns. Therapy can help you unravel the ties that have constrained you and kept you from your optimal life.