I am a warm, curious, and playful person, and I prioritize building a caring and reliable relationship with my clients.

With this care as our foundation, I use intentional questions to understand my client’s story, guide them to a deeper understanding of themselves, and co-discover the changes needed to shift their lives for the better.

I enjoy working with loved ones, and bring this same care to my work with parents, couples, and families.

Finally, I draw from my case management experience to proactively lead opportunities to collaborate with other providers, including school staff and medical practitioners, and to link my clients to local resources as needed.

Yes and no. In my work with teens, I prioritize meeting not only with the teen, but also their caregivers (ideally, I involve other important family members as well).

This approach is rooted in well-established research on teen mental health that shows the irreplaceable role of family involvement in improving a teen’s mental well-being long after therapy ends.

While I do conduct individual sessions with teens, this is done in addition to family and parent meetings.

If you would like a therapist who will meet exclusively with your child, I may not be the best fit.

As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I am trained to recognize and assign a diagnosis from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

I am required to assign a DSM diagnosis for clients who are paying for therapy through insurance.

In situations where diagnoses do not align with my clinical philosophy, or fall outside my area of expertise, I will promptly inform you and may offer referrals to clients seeking specialized assessment.

Having a diagnosis can provide many people with a sense of relief, clarity, and connection to others. However, many diagnoses also have a history of causing harm.

This is especially true for people who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), women, neurodivergent, trauma survivors, and members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Therefore, I exercise extreme care when assigning a disorder and intentionally avoid disorders that are proven to cause additional harm.

This includes personality disorders, disorders that stigmatize normal human responses, and disorders that cause service providers to have a negative bias toward clients. If a diagnosis is required, I will assign the least stigmatizing disorder.

What matters more to me is delving into your specific situation with curiosity and non-judgement to uncover your unmet needs that can help you feel better.

While I consider this a strength of my practice, I may not be a good fit for those who prefer a strict medical model or who expect me to assign disorders with problematic histories.

I work closely with you while working with your teen.

In addition to meeting together as a family, working with me often looks like one-on-one parent/caregiver meetings in which we explore your unique experiences, areas of struggle, and strengths. This approach acknowledges that your journey will naturally impact your relationship with your children. However, a parent's past often serves as a powerful motivator to persevere through hard times—it’s why you will never stop trying to help your teen.

If you're open to engaging in these kinds of conversations to gain a deeper understanding of the present and strengthen your relationship with your teen, we could be a good match.

I bring warmth, gentleness, curiosity, and playfulness to each session. I believe these qualities resonate well with people who experience intense emotions, grapple with shame, are navigating overwhelming feelings, or seek a secure, nurturing environment.

Additionally, as someone who deeply values learning your history to better understand your current context, I work well with people who are open to exploring their past experiences.

Rest assured, I specialize in supporting trauma survivors. Your comfort and safety come first—I'll never push you into a conversation you're not ready for.

I may not be the best fit for people who seek a manualized approach to therapy that focuses solely on present-day coping strategies and quick fixes.

While I do provide structure and suggestions that can bring immediate relief, my primary focus is on addressing the underlying relational causes of symptoms.