Much of my therapy background comes from having worked/trained at different university counseling centers, however, I also possess clinical experience from having worked/trained in other settings, such as Walter Reed Army Medical Center (treating combat-related PTSD), in a hospital emergency room as a clinical social worker, and as a field instructor for a wilderness therapy program in the Pacific Northwest.

Something that has caught my attention over the years is that each setting I’ve worked in has had its own culture that sets it apart. In many ways this view parallels how I see my work in individual psychotherapy as a unique experience for each person who comes into my office. In general, my approach to understanding people rests on considering the person-environment interface (i.e., how our worlds and the people around us impact our lives and how we impact others, too). At various times in our lives we may be inclined to see our interactions as stemming from one source more than another, whereas at others we might find a tremendous amount of reciprocal influence as well.

My approach to everyone I see is individually tailored to who you are and what you aim to achieve by coming in for therapy. How a person lives and what may have brought that person into therapy tends to represent the ways that individual has adapted to an imperfect environment. I approach the process of therapy as client and therapist working together and trying to gain a better understanding of what might be going on in your life. In this way, the overall goal is often to attain greater self-knowledge that feels meaningful to you. In my view, much of the growth that goes along with this process stems from forming a strong therapeutic relationship in our work.

I also believe that we all develop patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that can create difficulties in our everyday lives. Experiences we have had with parents and other important people in our lives have influenced some of the assumptions we hold about how the world works and how relationships operate. These assumptions tend to impact the way we see things in our lives and how we act. In therapy, we explore these things by talking about your current and past relationships and paying attention to the thoughts and feelings that emerge during our sessions. As a therapist, my style is warm, supportive, interactive, and nonjudgmental. I strive to create an atmosphere of curiosity and compassion, and to provide a safe, dependable setting in which you can experience and express your thoughts and feelings openly, with the understanding that exploring and clarifying feelings can help us get to the heart of what is really going on for you.