Individual Therapy
I provide psychotherapy for people over age 18, specializing in trauma, anxiety, and disordered eating and body image concerns. I enjoy working with people on a variety of different issues, including (but not limited to) mood, anxiety, and stress disorders; adjustment difficulties; and relationship and family-of-origin concerns. My therapy approach is integrative; draws from a handful of evidence-based models, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); and informed by the Health At Every Size paradigm.
Clinical Supervision
I love working with therapists in training and am happy to provide clinical supervision to psychologist residents working toward licensure. I use an integrative approach to supervision that is grounded in developmental, interpersonal, feminist, and multicultural foundations. Within this space, I work collaboratively with each supervisee to identify meaningful goals and strategies that take into consideration individual learning style, professional trajectory, and existing strengths. Philosophically, I am holistic and as such invite reflection upon the integration of personal and professional identity, where that may feel relevant and helpful. I strive to remain mindful of and transparent about the contribution of cultural identities, interpersonal process, and power dynamics within the supervisory relationship. My tendency is to work with meaning at both a cognitive level and at the level of the more intuitive "knowing" afforded by the exploration of affect.
EMDR
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a therapy approach that can help people heal from trauma or other disturbing life experiences.
Our brains have a natural way of “digesting” disturbing events, such that we’re able to put these behind us. When a disturbing event overwhelms the resources we have to cope with it at the time, it can interfere with that process. It may be strange to think of your brain experiencing “indigestion,” but when this happens, we may find that disturbing situations in our past become “stuck” in the emotional part of our brain with no date or time stamp, along with the original images, sounds, thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. When something in the here and now activates these inadequately processed memories, we may feel as though they are happening now, which may appear as an “overreaction” to whatever situation is occurring in the present.
EMDR is a PTSD treatment recognized as effective by the American Psychiatric Association, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, World Health Organization, and US Department of Veteran Affairs. There is evidence that it can also be helpful with many different concerns, including (but not limited to) anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias; depression and bipolar disorders; eating disorders; and grief and loss. It uses “bilateral stimulation” (e.g., eye movements) guided by a therapist to facilitate the brain’s natural healing process, allow it to process the information, and bring balance back to the system, such that someone can then leave the past in the past.