Executive Director, Counselor/Psychotherapist
Areas of focus: Couples, Young Adults, Men, LGBTQ Community, and Artist & Creatives
When I was in my teens, I didn’t realize it, but I was pretty damn depressed and anxious, and before I knew it, I was diagnosed with an eating disorder. I spent a lot of my time denying this fact, but it was clear to many of the people around me. It was about that time that I was introduced to my first therapist. I fought this lady tooth and nail, but she persisted. She was gentle but direct, caring, but not overbearing. While I am a very different kind of therapist then this lady was, it was her persistent, gentle care that helped get me to the next step in my life, and it’s that part of her approach that I will carry into our sessions together.
Today, many years later, I am still in therapy. I’m not there for the reasons that first brought me to see a therapist; I’m now there because I want to learn more about myself and continue to grow into a complete version of myself. My time in therapy is very rewarding, but I won’t lie and say it’s easy. Learning and growing takes time, effort, perseverance, and patience. I know what it’s like to feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. Because I know all of this firsthand, I can enter into your process with you with more empathy for all you might experience during your time with me.
Over the years, I’ve learned that therapy is a process. There are no wrong marks in the process of therapy, no wrong moves, and no wrong notes. In that way, therapy is like creating and refining a work of art, choreography, or a musical score. As an artist myself, I can assure you that the act of approaching a blank canvas can be simultaneously intimidating and invigorating. In my experience, the same is true for the therapy process, but in this instance, the work of art, the performance, the music, is you. In my own therapeutic process, I learned to realize that sometimes the process can cause the canvas to look messy and muddy. Still, by applying patience, determination, and grit, a picture began to emerge that revealed clarity and meaning to what was once confusing.