About
Counseling can be challenging
You’ve spent so long telling yourself to “just deal with it” even when it isn’t fine.
Making time to face it all can feel like a major undertaking.
Although therapy can seem daunting, it can be a way to finally sort through all the things you’ve been pushing down and tolerating. While it can mean a lot of hard work, therapy can also be the best way to help you find that part of yourself that has felt out of reach. It can mean finally feeling at peace with yourself even when you’re alone with your own thoughts.
Let me help you discover hope and resilience
I find great satisfaction in helping people change from tolerating the same old worries, doubts, and stresses day after day to THRIVING with newly found hope and resilience. Learning why thoughts and feelings work the way that they do. Learning how to recognize and effectively respond to cues your body give you. Noticing the positive impact on how you feel. Realizing that you have more choices than you knew, learning that small adjustments can add up to a big difference.
Sometimes uncomfortable things need to be discussed for change and healing to happen. But there’s nothing quite as amazing as getting back choices that worries took away from you.
The hard work is so worth it.
We’ll evaluate where you are – and collaborate about where you want to go
When we work together, I assess your experience, focus on what you want to be able to take out of the time, and make recommendations for the most effective path forward. While big change takes time, each session holds opportunity for manageable pieces of work.
In our sessions, we work collaboratively and will check in at the end of each one to review what you’re taking away from it. I will emphasize the importance of setting aside some time for yourself afterward to be able to reflect and decompress. We may even agree to send you away with homework to do between sessions to practice what you’ve learned.
About Me
I am a licensed professional counselor and have extensive experience working with both new and long-term anxiety, late in life recognition of neurodivergence, self-esteem, emotional boundaries, life transitions, communication difficulties, parenting issues, and existential crises. With over 20 years in practice, I am known for helping people navigate complex and limiting situations.
As someone who grew up surrounded by nature, one of my most treasured experiences is feeding wild birds from my hands. The extraordinary privilege of interactions like those were, among other things, early lessons in the value of trust, patience, and respect.
I carry this forward into counseling by making a space where you can be assured that you are able to say what you need to say and know that you will be treated with patience, kindness, and respect. All are welcome in this practice, and internationally recognized standards for gender affirming care are followed.
My career began caring for people in medical crisis in a hospital setting. This usually meant not seeing them for followup care and never knowing how they coped with those drastic life changes. This made me interested in practicing a more involved level of continuing care for people during the “now what” parts of their lives.
Of particular interest was the long-term effects of anxiety on our nervous systems, our bodies, and our connections with others. Sometimes overwhelm can reach a point where it becomes difficult to keep up with things we need or want to do. At that point it can be hard know the best way forward, so we just end up white-knuckling our way through.
I began practicing therapy as a way to help adults find the emotional and cognitive resources they need to effectively make the choices and changes that they want for themselves. I completed my degree in counseling from Loyola University in Maryland and am licensed to practice in Virginia.
Personal notes
I live in Washington DC with my husband, our daughter, our cats, and a “pet” wild cardinal who comes to visit when he’s called. Outside of the office, I’m usually reading or poking around a museum. If the weather is nice (especially if it’s cold out), I’m outside on a walk.