Individual Therapy
A space where you can feel safe learning about and being yourself.
Why individual therapy?
Individual therapy provides you with the opportunity to work closely with a highly trained professional (me) whose sole focus is on helping you build insight and self-understanding. Everyone has personal goals they would like to achieve, as well as challenges that keep them from achieving them. Individual therapy is a space for you to learn about yourself and the way that your experiences, past and present, have shaped the way you think about things and engage with the world. With this understanding, we can also work on changing patterns and behaviors that no longer suit you and develop healthy ways of coping with challenges. We’ll make space for the validity of your feelings while considering which courses of action bring you closer to the things that are most important to you.
My Approach
I use an integrative approach, incorporating techniques from DBT, ACT, interpersonal therapy, and psychodynamic therapy to formulate an approach that is specially tailored to suit each individual’s needs, strengths, challenges, and ways of learning. We will work collaboratively, together discussing goals for therapy and working as a team to achieve them in the way that works best for you. The experience you have will be as individual and unique as you are.
Reasons Clients Come to See Me
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Figuring out who you are can be challenging for anyone. Most of us have many identities that are important to us, and those identities can sometimes overlap in ways that can be sources of pain, discomfort, or even trauma. When you feel pressure to fit a complex and fluid identity into a box or conform to norms that you do not identify with, it can be tough to confidently identify and accept who you are. I specialize in helping people navigate identity development, especially with regards to race, sexual and romantic orientation, and other facets of marginalized identities.
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Anxiety and stress come in many forms. Sometimes work can be a lot. Sometimes our relationships are stressful and overwhelming. Sometimes we have a lot of responsibilities and not enough resources. For some people, anxiety is a familiar passenger, while for others, stress can be a response to specific situations. Whatever the source, we can work through the origins of your stress or anxiety and set you on a path to cope more effectively.
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Depression can look different for different people. Commonly, people experience chronic sadness or apathy, lack of motivation, changes in appetite, difficulty sleeping, trouble concentrating, and hopelessness. Depression can be a result of difficult life circumstances, and it could also have physiological underpinnings. In therapy, we can work together to understand where some of these challenges come from and find coping skills to help you manage.
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Though commonly considered a condition of childhood, ADHD affects individuals across the lifespan. People experience difficulty sustaining attention, trouble staying organized, difficulty organizing tasks and activities, and impulsiveness, among other symptoms. Not only can ADHD be a challenge on its own, but often people develop anxiety or depression as a consequence of coping with ADHD in a world with high expectations. In therapy, we can talk about the impact of ADHD on your life, introduce coping mechanisms to maximize your ability to stay organized and focused, and help you feel empowered to accomplish your goals.
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Our various obligations do not always play nicely together. Life can be very busy, and it can be tough to keep things balanced when we have many priorities that need our attention. In therapy, we can talk about setting good boundaries between professional and personal lives and focus on finding the right balance for you.
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No person is an island. Our relationships are a central feature of our lives. Coworkers, classmates, friends, relatives, partners - the relationships we have and maintain are numerous and not without their challenges. Therapy can be a space to voice some of these challenges; we can also discuss skills to help you communicate more effectively and resolve interpersonal conflicts.
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Self-esteem is a very common topic in therapy! None of us feels perfectly confident all the time, but many people struggle with self-esteem on a frequent basis. Challenges with self-esteem can have far-reaching effects, sometimes leading to depression or anxiety, or throwing a wrench in our professional or personal lives. Together, we can work on finding a place of self-acceptance, where you can feel like you appreciate yourself, whoever that person is.
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There are many life transitions that, while often exciting, can be great sources of stress. Whether it be moving, going to college, starting a family, or even losing a loved one, therapy can be a source of emotional support as you navigate these changes. Whatever life has in store for you, I am here to listen and help.
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Sometimes you just need a welcoming, non-judgmental person to share your thoughts and feelings with. Maybe you have a strong network of people you are close to, but you are unable to share some things with them because they cannot be impartial. Maybe your social support system is not as strong as you would like, and there is a lot on your mind. Whatever the case may be, I am more than happy to listen.