Working Together

Every person I see is different, but the way I think about the work stays consistent: understand the pattern, then change what comes next. My work is grounded in trauma-informed care, and I'm trained in EMDR and TF-CBT for clients who've experienced something difficult. I also draw on a broader set of tools depending on what's actually needed. Below is a closer look at who I work with and what that actually looks like in the room.

For the parent who's noticing something before it becomes a bigger problem.

Kids don't usually tell you in words that something's wrong. They tell you through behavior. Big feelings that seem to come out of nowhere. Trouble sleeping. Clinginess. Withdrawal. Struggles at school that don't match who they usually are at home, or the reverse. Sometimes there's a clear event behind it. Sometimes it's less obvious, but your gut still tells you something happened.

I specialize in working with families who want support early, before years pass and patterns calcify into something harder to shift.

What this looks like:

  • Play-based therapy, because play is how children naturally process experience, emotion, and stress

  • TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), for children who've been through something difficult, whether that's a single hard event or an ongoing stressor

  • EMDR, adapted for children when appropriate, to help process specific difficult memories

  • Significant parent involvement, including regular check-ins and guidance for what to do at home, because a child's healing happens largely in the context of their family

  • A collaborative, no-judgment relationship with you as the parent. You know your kid best. I'm here to help you understand what you're seeing and what to do about it.

  • When it makes sense, sessions in your home, since that's often where kids feel most comfortable opening up

Common reasons families reach out:

Anxiety, big emotional reactions, difficulty adjusting after a hard or frightening experience, trouble at school, changes in mood or behavior, family transitions like divorce or a move, and recovery after a difficult event, even one without visible aftermath yet.

I want to be clear that you don't need a crisis to justify getting your child support. Many of the families I see are looking for help with anxiety or a rough patch that hasn't resolved on its own, not just processing a specific traumatic event.

For the teenager who looks like they're handling it, and isn't sure they actually are.

A lot of the teens I work with are high-achieving, thoughtful, and responsible. They're also carrying a lot they don't talk about: constant overthinking, pressure to keep everyone else happy, a harsh inner voice, and the sense that nobody actually knows what's going on in their head.

What this looks like:

  • Trauma-focused work using TF-CBT or EMDR when it's the right fit. Trauma doesn't have to mean one dramatic event. It can be any experience or memory that changed the way a teen thinks about themselves or the world

  • A space that's genuinely theirs, where they can be honest without managing how it lands

  • A direct, real conversation style. Sessions that don't feel like what you picture when you think "therapy." We do the hard work, but there's room to laugh too. It's not all serious, all the time

  • Tools for anxiety and emotional regulation that actually make sense in their day-to-day life

  • Attention to identity, family dynamics, and relationships, since so much of what teens are working through connects to these areas

  • Appropriate parent collaboration, balanced with respecting a teen's need for privacy and autonomy

Common reasons teens reach out (or get referred by a parent):

Anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, difficulty managing big emotions, family conflict, identity questions, social stress, and processing a difficult or traumatic experience.

For the person who's tired of living on autopilot.

You've spent years being good at adapting. The achiever. The one who keeps it together. The one who reads a room and adjusts before anyone even asks. Those strategies made sense once, often as a way of navigating a hard family dynamic or a difficult relationship. Now you're noticing they're costing you: constant anxiety, relationships that follow the same frustrating pattern, a habit of second-guessing yourself, or a sense that you're performing your life rather than living it.

This is where insight-oriented, trauma-informed work really shines. It's not enough to know the pattern exists. I help you process the experiences underneath the pattern, not just talk around them, while also drawing on relational and attachment-based work to understand where it all connects.

What this looks like:

  • EMDR, for processing specific memories or experiences that are still shaping your present-day reactions

  • CBT, for when you feel stuck and want concrete tools to start shifting a pattern right now

  • A relational, insight-driven approach that connects present-day struggles to their roots, including family-of-origin dynamics and earlier relationships

  • Attachment-informed work, especially around recurring relationship patterns

  • An IFS-informed lens to help you understand the different parts of yourself, including the ones that developed to protect you

  • Practical tools for anxiety and emotional regulation, paired with the deeper work of actually shifting the pattern long-term

Common reasons young adults reach out:

Anxiety, chronic self-doubt, difficulty setting boundaries, repeating relationship patterns, family-of-origin work, identity and life-transition questions, and processing past experiences that are still shaping present-day choices.

A Note on My Trauma-Informed Approach

I'm trained in both EMDR and TF-CBT, two of the leading evidence-based approaches for trauma treatment, and I use them regularly with clients who've experienced something difficult. At the same time, I don't want you to think of me as only a trauma therapist, or that trauma has to look dramatic to be worth addressing. Some of the most meaningful work I do is with families and individuals who reach out proactively, before anything has visibly derailed. You don't need a catastrophic story to justify getting support. If your gut is telling you it mattered, it probably did, and I have the training to help you work through it either way.