Services
Psychotherapy
A counseling relationship can be a deeply supportive and healing experience. The therapy becomes a space to safely explore the complexities of our most significant relationships; to more fully understand how our many life experiences influence our present day; and to better understand the reactions we have to the moments and people of our lives. All of this, I believe, goes directly to our day-to-day experience of well-being.
I am not a passive listener. My style is warm and engaged; at times this engagement might be challenging, as I believe often our default and entrenched positions need to be interrogated in the name of growth.
While each therapy relationship will be different, certain theoretical principles guide my psychotherapy work, as I borrow flexibly from psychodynamic, existential, and cognitive-behavioral traditions. I also believe laughter is medicine, and I seek to enjoy my therapeutic relationships.
Of course, the therapy relationship comes down to the fit between us, and the only way to know the goodness of the fit is to experience it. I invite you to reach out for a consultation.
Medication Management
As a licensed naturopathic physician, I offer medication management, when indicated, for current, on-going counseling patients struggling with mild-to-moderate depression or anxiety. This includes the prescribing of SSRI’s and SNRI’s.
While typically not my first choice of intervention, I have found that in some cases the utilization of an antidepressant offers a useful purchase for deeper engagement of the work of psychotherapy.
Please note that medications like Adderall and Vyvanse for ADD and ADHD, and benzodiazepines, for anxiety, are outside my scope of practice.
Naturopathic Treatment for Mental Health
Naturopathic approaches to anxiety and depression look to the foundational elements of health to address symptoms. Basic areas include sleep, movement, and nutrition. I always aim to address these key areas within the context of the counseling relationship.
In addition, many different body systems contribute to mental health, and in my work I screen for imbalances in these systems, whether it be one's thyroid functioning, hormones, blood sugar regulation, etc.
To honor my commitment to the preservation of the therapeutic relationship, if deeper system imbalances are suspected, I will refer to a network of trusted colleagues for adjunctive care.
Mindfulness
I believe that a fundamental value of psychotherapy is in growing the ability to thoughtfully witness one’s own inner landscape. This is why psychotherapy dovetails so nicely with the practice of mindfulness. Growing mindful awareness of our daily mental chatter is an invaluable tool that moves us away from reactive behavior and helps us to choose our words and actions with more intention and equanimity. The more we can become watchful observers of our thoughts and feelings, the less likely we are to be overwhelmed, or flooded, by them.
Hypnotherapy
I offer hypnotherapy as both a stand-alone intervention, and as an adjunct to my ongoing psychotherapy work with patients.
Medical hypnosis, or hynpotherapy, is a powerful clinical tool for change with broad applications. Hypnosis engages with the subconscious by offering new ideas, new stories, to help shift unhelpful or harmful patterns of behavior. Hypnosis can be used to treat a variety of conditions, including sleep disorders (e.g. insomnia, jaw clenching), phobias (flying), and addiction.
When utilized in the context of an ongoing psychotherapy relationship, I have found hypnosis to be a highly effective tool in working with more entrenched emotional, cognitive, and somatic patterns that traditional talk therapy struggles to impact.