About Me

It is exceptionally healing to be truly known by another in a safe relationship. Many of us have had few, if any, of these experiences in our lives—where we are in a relationship with someone who wants to know our whole self, understands that self, and then accepts and even loves it.  On the contrary, many of the wounds we try to heal have so often been forged in earlier relationships where we were ignored, abandoned or abused. These experiences strike to the core of who we are because we are relational creatures whose attachments are paramount to how we experience the world, understand who we are within it, and change through it over time. This also helps explain why, while we gain much wisdom and benefit from our own growth efforts (e.g., introspection, meditation, journaling, etc.), it is difficult for healing truths, like that we are worthy of love and belonging exactly as we are, to sink in at a gut level when they are detached from relationship.

The new relational experience I seek to provide involves attending empathically to your experience in the room, staying curious about what you feel and think, appreciating the complexity of your experience, remaining open to what’s happening in our own relationship, and collaborating together on where we’re headed. You will always be in control of the pace at which we journey, though I will also gently challenge you to go further. While it’s important that you’re able to trust that I know how to provide this kind of professional relationship (see my credentials below), I also want you to know that I don’t know everything—certainly not the ins and outs of your life experience—and that this relationship matters to me as a person, too. So it will be essential that we are honest as we brave this vulnerable work together, making mistakes along the way, as we move closer to finding the truth of your experience and what you personally need for healing and growth.

I also work to decolonize therapy by honoring the inherent wisdom in your body, centering your values, honoring you as the expert of your experience, and inviting feedback to ensure therapy works for you. I apologize and work to repair when I have harmed. I strive to actively examine my own internalized oppressive biases and beliefs—and invite my clients to do the same. And I critically evaluate the psychological knowledge I use, which has historically drawn from a White, ableist, cishetero, capitalistic, patriarchal viewpoint, and often at the oppression of marginalized populations.

No matter your current struggle—depression, anxiety, trauma, chronic societal injustices, identity concerns, grief, transition, or deconstructing from religious harm or trauma—I believe this kind of therapy relationship will help you through it. Not only that, I trust it will help you know and accept yourself more deeply, relate to others more authentically, and live your life more fully.