Anxiety is a part of all of our lives in some shape or form – even if it’s that little bit of nervousness that gets us motivated for a big moment.   Mild anxiety keeps us on our toes and safe from harm. However, anxiety and its counterpart, worry can be very debilitating, especially when experienced in more pronounced forms such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Attacks or Social Anxiety.  Worry can become constant and lead to cognitive distortions like catastrophizing, racing thoughts and sleeplessness. Anxiety is common and it’s important to manage it.  I have a lot of experience working with anxiety and worry with good outcomes.  Usually, I tend to incorporate some CBT with a psychodynamic approach.  This translates to getting to the real source of the anxiety while learning some coping skills at the same time.

Who am I? There are many ways to define identity and self. I am interested and focused on helping people gain insight into self, to better understand who we are, to move away from a performative way of living, to escape “imposter syndrome”. In a nutshell, I encourage people to look into self with a sense of curiosity rather than fear or criticism in order to grow and understand self, and often to reframe a personal narrative that could be stuck or based on a mythology that has been given to us or our subjective version of our selves.

Depression, Bipolar Disorder, constant low-level feelings of malaise.   Fluctuating moods can be just rolling with what life presents. Or moods can take a great toll on daily life and can be extremely debilitating when one finds it difficult to get out of bed or has suicidal thoughts with no hope in sight.  I tend to focus on a multi-faceted approach when mood disorders disrupt ones ability to function well in daily life. I coordinate closely with a Psychiatrist to manage care (if medication is warranted), utilize psychodynamic work to help understand the ebbs and flows of the mood - including triggers and self-care, as well as CBT, when needed.  I have extensive experience working with both medicated and unmedicated bipolar 2 disorder as well as cyclothymic disorder. I’m well-versed in all psychotropic medications. I can provide referrals to qualified Psychiatrists if needed.  

Over time, I have worked with quite a few adult children of parents with mood disorders.  Often, children of parents who suffer from more profound mood disturbances can experience frequent parental hospitalizations, absentee parents, homebound parental depression, or unmedicated mania episodes. Growing up in these environments can leave lasting impressions that include sadness, depression, confusion, and fear as they grew up witnessing an often loved parent struggle with mental health issues.

Narcissism is complicated and a source of research for me.  

While I do work with individuals who present for other reasons, I am most often working with adult children of narcissists.  You will know who you are if experience some of the following: oversensitivity, indecisiveness, self-consciousness, lack of self-trust, inability to succeed in relationships, lack of self-confidence regardless of accomplishments, general sense of emptiness and not clear on “who I really am.”  I’m interested in helping anyone who can relate to what is in essence “conditional love” from a parent(s) to learn to gain insight, set boundaries and change maladaptive behaviors interpersonally and romantically to find people more suited for healthy relationships and to understand how growing up with a narcissistic parent informs current-day decisions and sense of self.  

What is trauma? 

To me, anything that has left a lasting impression on your life that continues to damage your ability to establish healthy relationships and a healthy sense of self due to events that have happened in your past.  It could be a one-time event or a chronic series of events that has left you confused, shameful and guilty, to name a few feelings. If you witnessed a traumatic event, we work to process what happened, even if makes no sense. One way to begin to overcome trauma is to speak about it in a safe and non-judgmental environment.  The next steps could be acceptance of shame and guilt, maybe even the recognition that you are not to blame for the trauma. Or not alone. In my practice, I’ve worked with trauma and recognize how hard it is to let go of self-blame or guilt that you witnessed an event and survived.