Individual psychotherapy

In my work with individuals, I draw particularly from emotion-focused and relational approaches to psychotherapy. I pay close attention to what is happening with you in the moment—your feelings, thoughts, bodily responses as well as the ways you may protect yourself from experiences that feel difficult or threatening.

Many of these self-protective strategies developed for good reasons and may once have been necessary or useful. Over time, however, they can leave us caught in painful states of anxiety, guilt or shame, or disconnected from feelings that contain important information about what we need and want.

Working closely together, we try to understand these patterns as they emerge, not only in the stories you tell but in what happens during the therapy session itself. As previously inaccessible feelings are experienced and understood within the therapeutic relationship, there is an opportunity for greater freedom, vitality and a more compassionate relationship with yourself.

I work with adults of all ages on a wide range of concerns, including depression and anxiety, relationship difficulties, trauma-related problems, eating disorders, substance use, stress and major life transitions.

I have a particular interest in the challenges of parenting across the life cycle—from deciding whether to have children and navigating the early years of parenthood through adolescence, the empty nest and relationships with adult children. I also work with parents facing children's illnesses or other difficulties, as well as the complexities of shared custody, stepparenting and post-divorce family life.