Trauma Therapy
“The simplest way of defining trauma is that it’s an experience we have that overwhelms our capacity to cope” - Dan Siegel, MD
Drawing from a combination of evidence-based approaches, as a trauma therapist by training, I offer a depth-oriented, integrated approach to trauma-treatment with the goal of helping you to heal, grow and recover from trauma. With an emphasis on developing a safe and secure therapy relationship, we work to process painful traumatic memories and develop the capacity for our minds and bodies to tolerate the related emotions and physiological responses. We also work to address nervous system dysregulation to help you feel comfortable in your own body and to be able to freely engage in physical and interpersonal world. Traumatic events will always impact your life, but they don’t have to define it.
Relationship Problems & Interpersonal Distress
Many come to therapy because they are struggling in their relationships and experiencing interpersonal distress. Whether relationship distress is the main issue or simply a part of a larger picture, therapy is an excellent avenue to increase interpersonal connection and interpersonal health. With a strong background in Attachment Theory, our work in therapy can help you to better understand relationship dynamics through the lens of your own relationship history, in addition to learning concrete interventions to promote relationship health and well-being.
Chronic Pain & Chronic Illness
While not mental health conditions, per se, living with chronic pain and/or chronic illness can have a significant impact on your mental health, relationships and overall well-being. As we learn more and more about how closely and intricately the body and brain are connected, we understand increasingly how skills learned in therapy, such as: emotion regulation, processing grief and loss, self-advocacy and boundary setting, mindfulness, behavioral medication and more, can be helpful in reducing chronic pain and mitigating the impact of chronic illness on your life. With specialized training and extensive experience working in medical settings and at the intersection of physical medicine and psychiatric care, I am passionate about helping those afflicted with ongoing medical symptoms live full and meaningful lives.
Insomnia
The inability to sleep can be one of the most frustrating and disruptive problems. While acute (i.e., short-term) episodes of insomnia are common and typically transient, chronic insomnia can profoundly impact your mood, physical health, cognitive functioning and overall quality of life. In many cases, insomnia is “co-morbid” (i.e., occurring together) with one or more other physical or mental health problems, making it harder to understand and address. Issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, transient or chronic life stress, chronic pain, etc. can significant impact sleep, forming a vicious cycle through which many of these problems are further exacerbated. My approach to insomnia treatment integrates process-based, cognitive and behavioral strategies to teach healthy sleep practices, disentangle the connections between sleep and other co-morbid conditions and improve your relationship with sleep.
Anxiety & Panic
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to threat and danger. In its most basic form, anxiety presents through physical and emotional signals that are intended to alert us that something in our environment is unsafe. These cues are often helpful for our survival, but can impede our ability to live happily and freely. Effective treatments for anxiety help to interpret these signals, develop the skills to cope and simultaneously process underlying dynamics to alleviate anxiety at the source. If you are seeking therapy to address symptoms of anxiety you may experience one or more of the following:
Anxiety that feels disproportionate to the identifiable stressor or trigger
Anxiety that persists long after the stressor or trigger is gone
Difficulty identifying clear stressors or triggers
Difficulty regulating your nervous system during or following episodes of acute anxiety
Difficulty avoiding repetitive behaviors that may temporarily soothe anxiety, but which often lead to longer-term problems
Depression
More so than for most symptom presentations, depression is one of the most widely debated of psychiatric problems with a host of physiological, psychological and psychosocial theories that attempt to explain why many people feel depressed at some point in their life. From a depth-oriented perspective, I believe that many of these theories hold some truth and in many cases, likely work in concert to create the experience that we call “depression.” In my work, I attempt to keep in mind these diverse factors, while keeping a strong focus on depression as a response to (or defense against) painful and often intolerable emotional experiences, expressions of self and/or ways of being in relationship with others. Within the context of a safe therapy relationship, therapy is a place where the intolerable can begin to feel tolerable and we can begin to feel fully and deeply, bringing our full selves into the world and into our relationships.