Many of us find ourselves stuck in old patterns, creating unnecessary pain for ourselves and others. While these patterns can be labeled as illnesses or disorders, they are often learned responses to harmful environments, relationships, trauma, and oppression. Together, we can work through these patterns by creating a non-judgmental atmosphere of trust, safety, and honesty. We’ll explore what role these patterns have played in your life and decide which to keep and which to let go.
In our therapy relationship, you can expect to feel accepted and free to be yourself, while being challenged to look deeply into the parts of yourself you might find painful or hard to accept. This process helps you to know yourself more fully, reclaim your capacity to feel deeply, engage honestly in relationships, and create a life you want to live.
I started this work by volunteering on the crisis hotline at the Alachua County Crisis Center, where I was trained using a person-centered model: I see you as a person first, not just a set of symptoms. I earned my B.S. and Master’s in Mental Health Counseling from UF, and during that time, I also worked as an intern therapist at the Crisis Center, helping clients with a wide range of identities and issues. My focus since then has been on individuals with trauma, personality and mood disorders, and those who simply feel out of touch with themselves and others or let down by life.
My approach to therapy is experiential, meaning we won’t just talk about feelings and patterns, but will process and integrate them by engaging with them directly in the present. Healing comes not through intellectualizing, but by allowing our bodies to complete their natural emotional processes. This looks different for everyone, but can include expressive arts, movement, breathwork, and experimenting with new behaviors to break up our familiar, limiting patterns and beliefs. If we want things to be different, we have to do things other than what we’ve been doing.
I’m influenced by somatic therapies, Gestalt, DBT, Internal Family Systems (“parts work”), Relational-Cultural Therapy, mindfulness/contemplative practices, and attachment theory. My approach is trauma-informed, LGBTQIA+/poly/kink affirmative, and social justice oriented. I also support those with diverse and/or marginalized religious and spiritual practices and experiences.
Specific modalities I have training in include:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Somatic Attachment Therapy
- Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1
Before becoming a therapist, I’ve been a transcriptionist, a lab technician, a delivery driver, a freelance musician, a bartender, and a line cook. Outside of work, I enjoy listening to and playing music, spending time outdoors, practicing yoga, cooking, reading obscure books, spoiling my cat, and loving my friends and family.
Please feel free to reach out, and I wish you all the best!
