Services

individual therapy

Feeling stuck, sad, anxious or numb are all uncomfortable feelings.  Often we choose to live in this “yuck” because it is easier than taking the steps to feel better.  I have had the pleasure of witnessing my clients shed the painful symptoms and move towards happiness, energy and productivity.   Many times it’s simply having someone really listen and provide a safe space to dump the “yuck”.  In individual therapy,  not only do I listen, but I help identify maladaptive patterns.  Once these patterns have been named, we find healthier ways to manage the anxiety or depression which will eventually lift you up rather than weigh you down.  Doing this work can seem daunting and scary, but feeling better is so worth it. 

 Adoption Therapy

Adoption creates great joy and also tremendous loss.  Each branch of the adoption kinship network often endures some loss; the birth parents lose an opportunity to raise their child, the child misses out on a life with their birth family and the adoptive parents may have suffered infertility, which is its own unique loss.  And yet, a new family is created between the adoptive parents and the child where there is usually a great deal of love and joy.

As an adoption therapist, I provide support and constructive strategies to help families adjust to the  changes inherent in adoption be it welcoming a child into the home or the intense grief of relinquishing a child for adoption.

 While all adolescents grapple with identity, adopted teenagers have added layers to this developmental phase.  Along with the common questions of “who am I?”, adopted teens wonder “why didn’t my birth family give me away?” or “Is there something wrong with me?”.   In therapy we address these questions and many other concerns connected to loss of one’s birth family and feelings of abandonment.   

Grief Therapy

Grief is universal, for if you have loved, you will grieve.   As a grief therapist, I work with people who have suffered loss. Loss comes in all forms; loss from death, divorce, a move, health changes, the list goes on.  Many people suffering the loss of a loved one have found relief in counseling.  I sit with my clients and simply listen, witness their pain in a safe and comforting space. I provide support and guidance in navigating the overwhelming grief waves.  My goal for grieving clients is to find the joy amidst the grief.  The loss is forever, but doing the necessary grief work in therapy can help people find joy again.

Adolescent therapy

Adolescence can be a time of great stress for teenagers.  They often question identity, their place in the world and are negotiating the separation from their parents; they are no longer children, but not yet adults.  

These stressors can evoke depression and/or anxiety.  In therapy, I help the teen to first identify and label the confusing emotions and then normalize them to help the teen realize that they are not alone and their peers also struggle with these complicated feelings.  As their therapist, I provide strategies and tools which help to decrease their symptoms and boost their self confidence and mental health.