While I have experience with many areas of counseling, my particular areas of focus include:

Bipolar Disorder

A major focus of my practice is helping clients who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Our work together includes education in order for clients to learn as much as possible about the disorder, utilizing books that have been beneficial to my clients in the past. Additionally, we work on establishing a network of family and friends who understand how they can best support you, selecting a psychiatrist in whom you feel a strong trust, emphasizing the importance of medication compliance, and building a strong, supportive alliance with your therapist. Bipolar disorder will always be a part of your life, but it does not have to define your life.

Trauma

Trauma is mentioned quite often these days, but just what is it? The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes trauma as resulting from “an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.” Trauma can be experienced through types of abuse, violence, neglect, war, disasters, and grief from loss, to name a few. I utilize various interventions to help clients deal with and process their respective trauma experiences, including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Egg, and Person-Centered therapies.

Anxiety and Depression

Whether you are experiencing one or both of these two well-known mental health issues, there are evidence-based methods that help clients understand and reduce the symptoms that affect them. Additionally, many clients with bipolar disorder experience both depression and anxiety in their lives, so it is helpful to learn the skills that will help minimize the effect they have on the client.

Goals, Relationships, Career, Empty Nest, and Women’s Issues

Sometimes we have something more specific that we want to talk through with a trusted confidant, and I highly recommend using a counselor for these kinds of things. Whether it’s getting over a job or relationship loss, wondering how you’re going to handle “empty nesterhood” as you wave goodbye to a child heading off to college, revising or setting new goals for your professional career, or navigating through the ever-changing landscape of women’s issues, I have experience in all of these areas, and I offer a safe, compassionate setting in which to unpack and process what’s on your mind.