I’ve spent years on both sides of the therapeutic relationship.

My experiences as a client have ranged from abysmal👎🏼to adequate ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to absolutely amazing✨

While it’s impossible (and unethical) to guarantee a transformational therapeutic experience, my aim is to use what I’ve learned from multiple perspectives to support you to the best of my ability.

What does this mean?

I use techniques, theories, and tools that resonate with me as a neurodivergent, queer, female, child-of-immigrants client and that I feel confident in as a therapist.

Tools and resources that haven’t worked as well for me (I’m looking at you, CBT!) are simply not my forté.

(If you have your heart set on CBT skills, I’m happy to forward you some worksheets and/or a referral to some amazing CBT therapists.)

Some approaches I take

This area will continue to evolve as I expand my knowledge and skills (both as a therapist and as a human).

For now, this is some what has worked really well for me as a client and what I currently integrate into my practice:

Integrative/ecclectic - I use different tools and techniques to support you on your journey. Sometimes I combine approaches depending on what I think might help most. Your feedback and input really matters to me, so I’ll check in with you often to make sure what we’re doing feels okay for you.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy - Have you ever wondered why you think, feel, or act in certain ways, but you can’t quite explain it? Sometimes things from our past shape us without us even knowing! In our work together, we’ll look at the “whole” you and how your experiences might still be showing up in your life today. Not a fan of rehashing old details? That’s okay! I don’t need the whole story to be able to help you create meaningful change.

Somatic work - “Soma” is Ancient Greek for “Body”. You may (or may not) have heard that emotions and memories get stored in the body. Incorporating your body into our work is not a must, but it can make therapy much more powerful!

Parts work is about getting to know the different “parts” of yourself (do you have an inner critic or a people-pleaser part?) so we can better understand, heal, and work with them instead of fighting against them.

Inner child work is similar to parts work, but more focused on connecting with the younger version of yourself, heal old wounds, and give that part of you the care and understanding it needed.

Attachment theory is based on the idea that the emotional bonds we form as infants with our primary caregivers (usually our parents) are shaped by internal survival instincts, and that these bonds, or attachment styles, influence how we show up in other relationships as we grow older.

Psychoeducation refers to providing relevant, educational information from peer-reviewed research and/or psychological theory. Sometimes that information is regarding the therapeutic process itself, specific modalities, or the science behind what’s going on. I can get reeeeeally nerdy about the nervous system.

Things I WON’T do as your therapist:

• Try to “fix” you.

• Give you advice.

• Tell you what to do.

• Pretend I know more about you than you do.

• Pretend I know more about anything than I actually do.

• Assume I know what is best for you.

• Have all the answers.

• Get upset if things don’t go a certain way.

• Make the hard stuff go away. (Sorry...)

What I WILL do instead:

• Remind you that you’re in charge of the directions we take in sessions.

• Listen with the aim to really understand you.

• Ask questions, provide feedback, offer information, suggest experiments, and help build useful skills.

• Support you in figuring things out.

• Acknowledge that I don’t know it all.

• Respect your wishes and boundaries.

• Apologize when I make mistakes.

• Celebrate your wins.

• Hopefully help the make the hard stuff easier to manage.