What to Expect

Previous clients and colleagues have described me as calm, non-reactive, and non-judgmental while simultaneously offering accountability and direct feedback.  I am pragmatic, grounded, and realistic.  I have been told I often offer clients a new perspective and help them discover new insights into themselves and their patterns while encouraging them to make their own decisions and life choices.  I believe therapy is a process that takes time but should also be a good use of your time!  I am receptive to feedback and want to know what works for you and what doesn’t.  

My goal is to create a therapeutic space and relationship that feels safe enough to explore complex feelings, thoughts, histories, and beliefs while also keeping in mind the goal of therapy is to no longer need therapy.  To this end, therapy often includes a mix of skill building, emotional exploration and processing, and practicing new patterns of behavior while learning to recognize and change the areas of our lives we have influence over.  Therapy can also include accepting and learning how to live with the things we don’t have control over or can't change.  One of my main focuses in therapy is helping people to better understand and feel secure within themselves while also learning how to balance caring for and being in relationship with both themselves and others. 

It is important to note many of the benefits of therapy do not come solely from what is discussed in session but in how you take your insights and skills developed in session and implement them into your life outside of session.  This means in order to see change in your day-to-day life, you must make change in your day-to-day life!  In this way, therapy that addresses relational, sexual, and mental health concerns is similar to physical therapy- doing a new exercise once per week isn’t going to do much but doing that exercise every day will make a difference.