CLINIC

I am trained as an expressive therapist and mental health counselor. In my three graduate degrees, I specialized in research and application of integrative trauma therapy. My work, travel, and experiences introduced me to many families with complex difficulties due to one or more family members suffering from complex symptoms and diagnoses. These encounters expanded my practice to developing intervention and sustainability plans for families that have tried many therapies, but the results were unsustainable.

I draw on a wide range of approaches and work with you in selecting those that are right for you. These include attachment and developmental-focused psychotherapy, expressive therapies (psychodrama/drama, music, movement, visual art), body-oriented therapies mindfulness and self-compassion, cognitive reframing, brain training, and nutritional psychology, and psychoneuroimmunology.
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I believe it is my responsibility to help clients reach self-sustainability. After our initial work, as things begin to stabilize, I will help you create your own unique self-sustainability plan to maintain the progress you've accomplished in the long term.
 
Trauma takes away our spontaneity and in particular ways shuts us down giving us a feeling that parts of us are frozen. The antidote for this is movement, which provides access to places inside where talk won't open the door.  I'm particularly good at helping clients figure out actions that allow them to feel a sense of expansion within and in their daily routines and engagements with others.  
 
It can be any kind of action - dance, yoga,  exercise, going for walks or stretching, improvisational art, almost anything that involves action. I'm not an artist, actor, or dancer, nor are most of my clients. It's got nothing to do with being good at these things, it is about finding a way to work on things in addition to words and engage with creativity and grow spontaneity. Engaging the body helps people discover things that would take a long time to get to, if at all, through talk therapy.

More important than the tools and techniques that I use is the relationship that is built between you and me. Most trauma is caused by a relationship with someone else. Therefore, the path out of it needs to go through a relationship as well.   
 
In therapy, my goal is to establish a connection with you that feels safe enough for you that we can work together in getting to the cores of the frozenness that follows trauma. When we have that, you can then transfer the sense of safety you experience in the therapy room to your day-to-day life.
 
Trauma integration is a journey, and it takes time. In my clinic, you set the pace and the rhythm of the process. However, therapy requires more than a few sessions.
 
Many clients experience immediate relief of some symptoms, but there are no instant cures.  No therapist should promise quick healing, 100% cure, or full reversal of traumatic experience. See my blog posts for more info about why.
 
There are many different paths toward integration. As a therapist, I use a person-centered, multi-disciplinary approach designed to give you the unique mix of tools that will work for you. Like everyone else, you're a complex being, and we can turn that into an advantage by working in multiple channels for integration.

I invite you to contact me to schedule an appointment.
   
LCPC MD license # LC7079
LMHC FL telehealth license # TPMC1094