about me

In this section I could dive in to my theoretical orientations, fancy trainings, past experience, and maybe toss in some short-hand acronyms and clinical jargon that sounds really impressive. But most of this won’t immediately mean anything to you when you’re looking for help.

If you are curious about these things, scroll down and I’ve got this info at the bottom of the page. If you’re not, let’s start where we are. The most important part of tracking down a therapist isn’t reading a list of how many certifications they have attached to their name (though being well-trained is never a bad thing). Really good therapy starts with meaningful connection, mutual understanding and a sense of being at ease. Good therapy hinges on feeling sincerely understood and able to trust the person with whom you are exploring this very vulnerable stuff. If the provider you work with doesn’t feel safe to you, it’s going to be hard to dig in and get to work. Even if that person has every certification and training in the book.

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With that being said, here’s some little bites that may tell you more about me than my alma mater and years of post-grad education.

• If you’re looking for someone to hold a clipboard and quietly take notes in your session, while holding a neutral thoughtful expression — yeah, I’m probably not your dream therapist.

• If you are looking to meet with someone who will meet you with warmth and sincere reverence, who will hear your story and remember the details week-to-week, who will help you to find the thread that connects these pieces together and who notices little bits of things that you might overlook, that’s closer to where I am.

• I may be a good fit if it helps to know that it’s okay to eat your lunch in your sweats while we meet; that if you can’t find childcare, it’s not a big deal to have your kid wearing headphones on their IPad beside you while you make time for our therapeutic work.

• I adhere to the guiding principle that you are the expert on you, and my role is to be a thoughtful support and guide. I welcome critique with open arms, especially when it’s to tell me that something we are doing does not feel right to you, or if there are any things that might help therapy feel more effective. Just because I have a clinical license does not make my opinion more important than yours in our work.

• I will never minimize the impact that toxic systems have on our lives, and I will not pretend that it’s normal to have to live in a world that wants to deny your humanity. There is no amount of deep breathing exercises that will ever make anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation okay, and I will never try to “reframe” the experience of racism in your workplace or school. I feel that it is normal to be distressed and have an activated nervous system when witnessing a genocide live on your phone, and I won’t shy away from bearing witness to your grief/rage/disorientation around it.

  We need to be able to talk to our therapists freely about tough things if they weigh on our hearts. It is only through bearing these things together that we can even begin to cope. (With that being said, if these concerns aren’t front of mind for you, thats okay too — but if they are, therapy with me is a safe spot to air them out).

I hope that helps tell you a tiny bit about working with me. My traditional credentials are listed below. Still — the absolute best way to see if I’m a good fit is to reach out and say hello.

:)