About Me and My Approach

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I just love the field of psychology and really enjoy working with people who are interested in transforming their lives.  I believe we are born into a reality that frequently leads to pain, suffering, and survival mode (fight/flight/freeze/fawn) -- this can become habitual for many people, so it is increasingly important to examine this and heal. 

My overall approach to psychotherapy and consultation is warm, non-judgmental, supportive, as well as directive when needed.  My psychotherapy style integrates a cross-cultural and trauma-informed lens with somatic, energy psychology, and mindfulness-based techniques. 

My emphasis is on psychodynamic/psychoanalytic, relational, depth-oriented work. This allows my clients to discover the root causes of their difficulties, while learning and practicing essential skills that help them to deal with the inevitable life stressors in more effective ways.  Examining root issues often involves revisiting childhood and adolescence.  Why do we go back that far?  According to recent research findings, children are operating in a hypnotic-like state of mind (with theta brainwaves predominating) until age 7, which means that they are highly susceptible to influence from parents, peers, teachers, etc. during that period of time.  This means that, for the first 7 years of your life, you were imprinted with some helpful, neutral, and unhelpful beliefs, behaviors, perceptual lenses, and general patterns that are most likely influencing you today.  One of my passions is to explore the these (frequently unconscious) imprints, and to transform the outdated ones. 

I also like to integrate visualization/imagery work into treatment.  According to research, our minds cannot distinguish between the past, the present, and the future.  That means that, for your mind, it doesn't matter if you witness an event, pull it up from your memory, or  daydream/fantasize/visualize it -- your nervous system responds with the same level of intensity to all of the above phenomena.  This, in turn, creates an incredible opportunity to utilize visualization/imagery in psychotherapy to create healthier self-esteem, moods, patterns, and relationships -- in a way, "reverse-engineering" mental wellness.  Professional athletes and many others have used visualization for decades, to enhance their performance, and we can use similar technique to create a vibrant, thriving life.