I have an eclectic approach to my work. I utilize approaches from CBT, DBT, CPT, and Seeking Safety, depending on the needs of my clients. Most of all I am drawn to see the humanity in each person. I believe that we are all, by large, good people, trying to lead good lives. I also believe that the good and the bad are intrinsically intertwined throughout our lives. I believe that kindness and sensitivity can be born from trauma and cruelty and rage can be formed in a loving environment. I believe that pressure and frustration can cause good people to do bad things, things that sometimes make it difficult for us to love or respect ourselves.

I believe that Core Beliefs – beliefs that we hold about ourselves that usually form early in life and get re-enforced repeatedly throughout our lives – can motivate our behaviors well into adulthood and can lead us to feel unlovable or less than. These beliefs can drive behaviors, such as avoiding others behind the walls of protection that we build; or they can cause us to create other behaviors that involve people-pleasing or approval seeking. I believe that these Core Beliefs grow out of traumatic wounds we have incurred throughout our lives. I believe these wounds can be healed. I believe that we have the power to heal our own wounds and achieve an emotional, psychological, physiological, and spiritual balance.

I also believe that one of the primary obstacles to achieving this inner balance is the powerful feelings of self-loathing and unworthiness that we each carry. Again, I believe all the inner workings of our emotional and cognitive states can be worked on and improved.

I find that my thinking aligns closely with the work of Berne Brown and her emphasis on daring greatly to step into one’s own vulnerability in order to make the fundamental changes we seek. My thinking also aligns closely with work on the brilliance and power of self- compassion that Tara Brach and Kristin Neff talk about. I have found the work of David Burns and Marsha Linehan to be invaluably helpful in providing tools needed to get from feeling bad to feeling good to feeling great. And I admire and use Scott Miller’s work on Feedback Informed Treatment, because it is feedback that you provide that I need in order to shape my work to best fit your needs.

If you choose to work with me there is one more thing that I would like you to know about me and that is that I have made it through my own traumas. I carry scars from old wounds. Although, I am a credentialed and licensed professional (MSW/LCSW), I am often also a client. I believe that this life experience has prepared me to better understand your journey and know how to best walk beside you along your path.