I feel honored that I get to witness fellow humans in the vulnerable and dignified work of self-inquiry. I know it’s intimidating to sit down and share personal things with a stranger! I strive to earn trust by creating a space where all of you is welcome - any emotion, thought, any body language. All your identities. As such, my style is genuine and informal, direct but not directive. I want to help you explore, not tell you what to do.

Respect for diversity is a core value in my work and my life.  My office is a place where you can be yourself and feel heard.

Self-improvement AND Self-acceptance

Psychological distress often means getting restricted in the range of emotions we feel and behaviors we choose. We feel life shrinking. My purpose is to help you allow - not force - more range. More loving kindness for self. My office can be a place for honest exploration of the varied forms of shame which keep us from being better friends to ourselves. In this effort I draw on Mindful Self-Compassion, a therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Kristin Neff and her colleagues. I also specialize in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that helps you take a step back from self-defeating internal chatter so you have more room for what matters most. 

Our critical chatter is so pushy and persistent! And it's human to try to silence or avoid it. Paradoxically, efforts to control it seem to result in more stuckness, not less. In therapy we practice thanking the chatter for trying to help, then work to make space for motivation that comes from heart more than from fear. In other words —"what do I need?” more than "what do I need to avoid?”  While both questions are important, "what do I need?" is more life-giving. In working to answer this question, we build a bigger repertoire of coping behaviors. This often includes working with mindfulness practices, both in session and in everyday life. Mindfulness is not just valuable in coping with difficulty, but also in making more room for joy.

To grieve is human. To resist grief is human.

Because all transitions involve loss, resisting change is often about resisting grief—whether you’re bereaved after the death of a loved one, or changing careers, exploring your identities, ending a friendship, or leaving the God you grew up with. The hard/necessary first task is to acknowledge that grief is happening. This opens up space for the main work of grieving: experiencing the (mixed) emotions of the loss.