INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOTHERAPY
EMDR
A psychotherapy approach that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are a result of disturbing life experiences. This approach is designed to support your brain's own healing mechanisms. One aspect of EMDR therapy is that you do not have to talk in detail about a trauma for it to be digested by your own information processing system in the brain.
PSYCHODYNAMIC
This therapy is based on the belief that our past experiences greatly impact our current experiences and relationships. The focus of this modality is to help you gain insight into your inner world and to become aware of patterns that occur in your behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and relationships. I take a relational approach meaning our therapeutic relationship will be used to better understand how you can improve your relationships outside of therapy.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL
CBT sees the problems people experience as based on negative ways of thinking and learned patterns of unhelpful behavior. One way to find relief from day-to-day problems is to increase coping by shifting these thinking and behavior patterns. We will use well-researched strategies to examine whether those thoughts and behaviors are helpful and to stop falling into old patterns. This therapy targets problems occurring in the here and now.
SAND TRAY THERAPY
This is a form of expressive therapy that allows people (children, adults, and families) to construct a scene using miniature toy figures and sand. The scene created acts as a reflection of your own life and allows you the opportunity to resolve conflicts, remove obstacles, and gain acceptance of self. I will work closely with you to use the sand tray as a tool for you to share deep thoughts and feelings in a way that can be more expansive than words alone.
STRESS, TRAUMA, & PTSD
Someone may feel stuck, weighed down, or emotionally on edge due to a traumatic event or upsetting experience that occurred in their lives. This experience can be big or small, have happened recently or many years ago. Symptoms of stress or a trauma response can include intrusive thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, wanting to avoid certain places and things, angry outbursts, recklessness, and difficulty focusing. General stress can also greatly impact daily functioning and can be addressed with psychotherapy.
ANXIETY OR PANIC
Anxiety and panic can feel difficult to control and often can get in the way of important aspects of life such as work, relationships, and socializing. Symptoms may look like difficulty sleeping, feeling irritable or on edge, muscle tension, and difficulty concentrating. Anxiety and panic disorders can greatly affect the body and also create thinking traps that are difficult to break out of.
DEPRESSION
Depression is characterized by feeling down or losing interest or pleasure in what is usually enjoyable. It can be mild or severe, and impact the body and mind in a number of ways. Most aspects in life will feel off and everyday tasks more difficult. Some other common symptoms are changes in sleep and appetite, fatigue, feeling worthless or guilty, and difficulty thinking clearly.
SURVIVORS OF ABUSE
My passion is working with adults who have experienced abuse as a child, whether that be from a parent, other adult, sibling, peer, institution, etc. I have specific training and experience related to treating sexual abuse, sexual assault, and incest. Abuse experiences may also be physical, emotional, or verbal, or the absence of care which is known as neglect. They can be singular events or chronic.
CHRONIC PAIN OR ILLNESS
I work with people to help them cope with the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that accompany chronic pain or illness. Processing emotions can have direct ties to the intensity of pain. Each client is different and we will work to determine what makes the best sense for your treatment, whether that be focusing on thoughts about pain, mindfulness techniques for relaxation, or reprocessing traumatic memories.
RELATIONSHIP ISSUES
Sometimes people cannot pinpoint a specific symptom or experience, but they have insight that their relationships are unfulfilling, unpredictable, or chaotic. Or, it may be difficult to maintain relationships. Psychotherapy can assist in identifying why that may be happening and facilitate understanding or a new way of being.