I mainly draw on CBT and mindfulness-based approaches, but I do not run a fixed program where everyone gets the same worksheets in the same order. CBT is useful for noticing the automatic thoughts and habits that keep a difficult pattern going, and for testing whether those thoughts hold up once we look at them closely. Mindfulness work helps with the parts that are not purely about thinking: the racing body, the urge to avoid, the moments where you know something is not working but cannot quite stop it. In practice, this means a session might involve unpacking a specific situation from your week, or it might be slower and more reflective, depending on what is actually useful that day. I adjust based on what you respond to, not a syllabus. If something is not landing for you, I would genuinely like to know, because the approach should bend to fit you, not the other way around.

I have always been drawn to the moment someone finally says the thing they have been carrying quietly for a long time, often something they have never said out loud before. There is a particular kind of relief that happens right after, even before anything gets solved, just from being heard without flinching. I wanted to be the person on the other side of that moment. Early on, I noticed how much people shrink the truth of what they are going through to make it easier for others to hear, and how exhausting that must be to keep up. Therapy, done well, is one of the few places where that shrinking is not necessary. You get to bring the whole, complicated version of what is happening, and someone stays with you in it rather than rushing to fix or minimize it. That is still what pulls me into this work every week, session after session, person after person.

This comes up more than you would think, and it is genuinely fine. I do not expect you to walk in with a tidy summary of your week or a clear sense of what to talk about. Often the not knowing is itself useful information, and we can start there. I usually open with a simple question, something like what has been on your mind lately, or how you have been since we last spoke, and let the conversation find its own shape from your answer. If you go quiet partway through, I will not rush to fill the silence; sometimes the pause is where something real is forming. If it would help, you can also tell me at the start that you are not sure where to begin, and we will figure it out together rather than you carrying that pressure alone. There is no wrong way to arrive: tired, distracted, upset about something unrelated, or simply unsure. All of it is workable material.

If you are in immediate danger or in crisis outside of our sessions, please use the crisis resources listed on this site or contact emergency services directly. I am not able to provide round the clock crisis support between appointments, and it matters to me that you have somewhere reliable to turn in those moments. Inside a session, safety always comes first. If something serious comes up, whether that is a risk to your safety or a situation that needs urgent attention, we set aside whatever else we were discussing and focus on that. I will ask direct questions rather than dance around it, because vague concern does not actually help either of us. From there we figure out what you need right then: a plan for the next 24 hours, contacting someone you trust, or connecting you with additional support. None of this is about judgment. It is about making sure you are not carrying something heavy entirely on your own.

I tend to work best with people who are ready to look at a pattern honestly, even if they are not yet sure what to do about it. You do not need to arrive with a plan or even a diagnosis in mind, just a genuine willingness to sit with something uncomfortable instead of immediately explaining it away. That could look like someone who keeps ending up in the same kind of conflict, someone whose anxiety has quietly taken over decisions that should feel simple, or someone going through a transition that is bigger than they expected it to be. I also work well with people who like being asked follow-up questions rather than just handed advice, since most of what we do together is figuring things out side by side rather than me telling you what to do. If that sounds closer to nagging curiosity than certainty, that is a fairly accurate description of how I work.