How I Work
My work centers around relationships - the relationship one has with one’s self, as well as with others. Drawing on my training in Depth Psychology, I listen for symbolic themes and patterns that can help bring into light what is unconscious and/or repressed in my clients. To this end, I work with dreams and archetypes, myth and metaphor, in order to help my clients see themselves and their lives in a deeper and more meaningful way.
My work with couples is focused on change, curiosity, compassion, and developing sense of self. When partners expand their capacity for curiosity in and compassion, for themselves and their partner, each partner strengthens their sense of self, and in turn, the relationship deepens. With a stronger sense of self, clients are better able to show up authentically in their relationships, in all facets of their lives. And partners are better able to tolerate the inherent stress of change in their relationship. My M.A. graduate thesis on the Alchemy of Human Relating explored how romantic relationships can reveal one's unconscious shadow material, paving the way to stronger selfhood and even to psychological individuation, which can lead to deeper intimacy in relationships.
People can only meet you, as deeply as they’ve met themselves. - Matt Kahn, author and spiritual teacher
I also work with couples to process and heal from infidelity. Through this work, we honor the shattering pain involved in infidelity and we explore what the couple can learn from it, in order to grasp the nuanced motives and meaning driving the infidelity, and how that might inform and transform the couple's relationship. Through this process it is possible for couples to find a new perspective from which to revision and revive their relationship. Reckoning with infidelity can lead to personal transformation and deeper connection to one’s self and their partner.
My couples work is informed by the relationship theories of psychotherapist Esther Perel and psychologist John Gottman, and I hold a certification in Sex Therapy from California Institute of Integral Studies. I bring a deep understanding of patterns, projections, and attachment issues at play in relationships.
My work with teens and young adults centers around helping my clients strengthen their sense of self, by cultivating self-acceptance and insight. My goal is to empower my clients to become more resilient and autonomous, as they navigate the stressful and often turbulent journey to adulthood. Some common challenges in adolescence and young adulthood include friendship and romantic drama, mood swings and anxiety, conflict at home with parents or with roommates, and the often tremendously painful and ubiquitous presence of social media.
I help my clients untangle these challenges and make sense of confusing emotions, and I provide psycho-education and emotional regulation strategies to help clients become skilled at self-soothing. I help clients learn to work with their emotions more effectively - so they can better manage emotional ups and downs in the nervous system, and so they learn to value the wisdom inherent in their emotions. Intense and painful emotions are difficult, but they are also valuable and helpful, and essential to being human and growing into a unique adult. Clients develop more sense of self and confidence, as they learn to listen to their emotions and realize their own inner wisdom and capability.
Mental health isn’t about "feeling good," but about having feelings that fit the moment,
even if those feelings are unwanted or painful. - Lisa Damour, clinical psychologist