What is your style/approach to therapy?
My approach to therapy involves helping you notice and change the patterns that dominate your life. This often means that we will be looking at feelings, sensations, and thoughts as they arise in the present moment while developing an understanding of the past experiences they are related to. During this process, we will uncover some of the unspoken beliefs you have been harboring about yourself and the world. Beliefs which may have been shaping your perspective for years without your awareness. I also tend to explore the relationship you have with yourself, and how it makes its way into your connection with other people. This process can be demanding, and I make sure that you feel safe and supported throughout it. This often involves helping you to adopt adequate coping skills to help you through whatever daily challenges you might be experiencing.
What do you view as a key component of the therapeutic relationship?
I find that the two most important conditions for therapy to be effective are safety and compassion. Therefore, I make an effort to work at a pace that feels comfortable for you. The goal is to develop a relationship in which you feel like you can trust me with the intimate details of your inner life. Developing that takes a varying amount of time and effort for each person, and I make pretty active efforts to respect that. Compassion means that I take an actively curious and non-judgmental stance towards anything that is important enough for you to bring to our sessions. It means that I accept you and don't need you to change, but that I will do everything I can to help reconnect you with the most essential and mature parts of yourself. In my experience, it is much more fruitful to explore the honest reasons why we do the things we judge ourselves for instead of blindly writing them off. Ultimately, the more I can reflect your truth, the less you will experience the dissonance you are seeking solace from.
What would be important for someone to know about working with you?
I think it's important to establish that I work with clients, not on clients. Therapy is a collaborative process which requires presence and curiosity from both parties. I make efforts to learn about the circumstances which are unique to your life and experience instead of analyzing from a place of distance. I am passionate about music, learning, nature, cooking, and the important relationships in my life. I know what it is like to grow distant from these things during periods of my own personal difficulties. I therefore aim to explore what is keeping you from connecting with the things that make you feel more alive. Lastly, I find that authenticity is an important part of this process. I will be encouraging you to provide your honest feedback and reactions to the work that we do. I will also provide my authentic observations when it is appropriate. It is in this fashion that we will develop a meaningful professional relationship through which we will pursue your goals.
Specialties
Anxiety
Anxiety can mean nervousness, worry, or self-doubt. Anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder that entails excessive, repeated bouts of worry, anxiety, and/or fear.
Addiction
Regular involvement with a substance or activity in a compulsive, hard to control way that often has harmful consequences. Often refers to substance use, but can include compulsive behaviors such as sex, gambling, or shopping.
Attachment issues
Children that experience parents and/or guardians that are avoidant, ambivalent, or resistant from an early age, may develop attachment issues. This can manifest as difficulty forming or maintaining friendships, romantic relationships and empathetic bonds throughout life, as well as other issues.
Men's health
Men’s health is regarded as the holistic being and experience of being male. This extends beyond consideration for illness and other complex conditions but to general considerations of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Issues may include socialized gender role, male reproductive issues, fatherhood, employment, divorce, substance use, et cetera.
Trauma
Trauma is the result of experiencing a perceived, extremely distressful event. Although the stress threshold for each person differs, meaning that each person considers and experiences trauma differently, it is an event that tops one’s threshold. It exceeds one’s ability to cope or emotionally process. Symptoms may include shock, anxiety, confusion, hopelessness, feeling disconnected, mood swings, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts.
General Expertise
Anxiety
Anxiety can mean nervousness, worry, or self-doubt. Anxiety disorder is a mental health disorder that entails excessive, repeated bouts of worry, anxiety, and/or fear.
Relationship Issues
Refers relationship issues with a partner or spouse. Can include issues related to relationship distress, relationship satisfaction, communication, intimacy, etc.
Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the degree to which a person feels confident, valuable, and worthy of respect. Feeling low self-esteem can influence overall well-being and be linked to anxiety and/or depression.
Social Anxiety
Social anxiety or social phobia is fear of social situations or a fear of interacting with people other than close friends and family. Social anxiety can be persistent, intense, and debilitating, greatly affecting daily life.
Addiction
Regular involvement with a substance or activity in a compulsive, hard to control way that often has harmful consequences. Often refers to substance use, but can include compulsive behaviors such as sex, gambling, or shopping.
Fees
$120
First Session
$110
Individual Therapy
Types of Therapy
Individual Session
Clientele
Young Adults (18-24)
Adults (25-65)
Seniors (65+)
Treatment Approaches / Modalities
Compassion-Focused Therapy
Internal Family Systems Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy
Somatic Therapy
Training / Certifications
Compassionate Inquiry (ongoing)
Psychodynamic Fellowship (Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute)
Somatic Experiencing Masterclass With Peter Levine (PESI)
Treating Pathological Narcissism (Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute)
Licensure
MA, LMHC, 12821
Education
Master's of Arts in Mental Health Therapy, Boston College
Work History
My work in the field of mental health has taken place in a variety of settings including residential substance abuse treatment, inpatient psychiatric units, and clients' homes. During that time, I have worked closely with clients ranging from 7 to 65 years of age. The most profound and expansive of these positions followed my graduate education, and it involved working as a therapist within a residential substance abuse treatment facility. There, I lead multiple formats of group therapy while developing relationships and conducing individual sessions with the clients in the program. while many people might believe that work within the field of substance abuse might be limiting in its scope, it was precisely in this setting that I was most challenged to expand my my skills and expertise in order to meet the diverse needs of the patients there.
Location
Remote Therapy, Massachusetts , 02130, MA