My Approach

I recognize the courage it takes to come this far, to begin the search for 

a therapist who you cautiously hope to trust. 

Safety and trust are two pillars of a supportive relationship and this is where 

we begin.

I have an integrative approach to therapy, this means I bring together various theories or perspectives to serve as both guideposts and places of inquiry. Above all, I have an empowerment and biopsychosocial approach to therapy. My hope is to expand our horizon to get a better view of what influences are present in your life; your biology (genes/family lineage), psychology (how you make meaning) and social environments (places of privilege and oppression). Empowerment means that I believe in your capacity for healing and your own inner resources and self-knowledge that have served and motivated you so far. 

In conjunction with my clinical training, I have a lengthy background in the self-cultivating arts of traditional Hatha yoga and meditation practices which help inform my interventions for mental, physical and emotional well-being. Yoga is one avenue for reconnecting the bodymind and meditative practices have been shown to restructure the brain in a way that can lower reactivity and aid in higher brain functions. Meditation and yoga both orient towards present time experience, which has the ability to calm the emotional centers of our brain and to gain greater access to the parts of our brain that aid in discernment, critial thinking, planning, organization and more. 

I am an Intermediate II student of Somatic Experiencing, a body based trauma resolution therapy developed by Dr. Peter Levine. Somatic Experiencing provides a framework to understand how traumatic experiences affect us on the physiological level. 

Life events that overwhelm our capacity have the ability to create havoc in our nervous system (anxiety, depression). The physiological effects of traumatic, or overwhelming, situations is disconnection from self; and the relational effect of trauma is disconnection from others. This sense of  disconnection begins as a way of survival; hence what was necessary then can become a barrier to self and relationships later. 

Somatic Experiencing can aid in the process of moving from a 'dysregulated' state (hyper or hypo reactions) towards building states of internal connection and harmony. 

Building back the relationship with the body is a foundational aspect of my approach to therapy and proceeds only at your pace. Eighty percent of all communication comes FROM the body TO the brain, 80%. This includes vital information about our physical and emotional states. If we learned to cut off communication from the body as a mode of protection at one point in time, we can also learn how to reconnect and regain access to this wealth of information.