“My clients tell me that they've never felt so safe and cared for than in our therapy sessions.”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
I've always had the ability to really listen to someone and feel their pain. While I was a high school teacher and a photographer in the past, I have always volunteered in counseling, peer counseling, marriage mentoring, and other areas of helping. In my 30s, I decided that I wanted to help professionally and dedicated myself to learning how to help people more effectively. I went through the University of Texas, one of the top programs in the nation, and then studied and attended countless trainings to develop the best skills based on science and research that I could find.
What should someone know about working with you?
My clients tell me that they've never felt so safe and cared for than in our therapy sessions. Each session is full of warmth and free of any judgment. I focus on helping you understand emotions and patterns to fully accept who you are without shame in order to be able to really find what you want to change. My work is very relational, and the people I work with know that I genuinely care about them. Many of my clients are successful, driven women who struggle with perfectionism, self-doubt, frequent guilt, and feeling just not good enough. My sessions are highly tailored to you and your needs. We work together to figure out where to focus each session to help you in the present while also working through the past issues that still cause pain today.
What do you do to continue learning and building competencies as a provider?
I love learning! I listen to podcasts daily about attachment, relationships, mindfulness, interpersonal neurobiology, and the brain-body connection. I have done extensive training in several trauma therapies (EMDR, prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy, and TF-CBT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), anxiety disorders (including ERP for OCD), emotionally-focused therapy, schema therapy, and accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP). I spend at least one day a month in training to keep on top of the latest methods and research and take two extended trainings a year. I'm also usually reading 2-4 professional books at a time, so I know some great resources to share to help you between sessions.
“Each session is full of warmth and free of any judgment.”