As a Columbia University-trained psychotherapist, I see therapy as a spontaneous, playful, and flexible process tailored to the individual. My approach prioritizes a balance between practical interventions and thoughtful, focused exploration of historical issues (such as family history and trauma) and contextual issues (examining the intersection of love, work, social life, and larger social and political systems with emotional struggles). I focus both on how to make concrete changes to provide immediate relief while also getting to the root of issues to foster long-lasting change. While individuals come to me for therapy because something meaningful in their lives is not working, I prioritize finding and supporting their strengths, which I believe is essential to working in ways that are truly collaborative and deeply and lastingly successful. Ultimately, I believe that effective therapy begins with a strong relationship—a collaborative partnership where the therapist and patient work together to understand and accept the patient’s inner reality while also co-creating a new reality rooted in a new relationship.
I have provided therapy to students at Barnard College’s counseling center around depression, anxiety, eating concerns, acute stress and complex trauma, and navigating racial, ethnic, class, and LGBTQIA identities. While at Barnard I also provided substance use counseling, education, and outreach using a harm-reduction approach. I have also worked with children doing both individual and group therapy. I developed a dynamic approach to therapy with kids, combining play therapy, art making, storytelling, and other therapeutic methods that continue to inform my creative practice of therapy with all ages today.
With a former career in publishing, I understand the power of the stories we tell about ourselves and the stories other people—both in our lives and in the larger sociopolitical context—tell about us. In therapy, helping patients find and tell their stories in ways that work for them, including integrating the painful parts into their larger narrative, is a deeply healing act that helps make sense of who patients are and what they’ve experienced.
In my practice I see the ways our culture places value on certain emotions over others, dictating what is and is not acceptable. Learning from the world around us (and often from people in our lives) that some emotions are intolerable is what makes them intolerable and keeps us isolated. In contrast, I see emotions as not only valid, but as rational and serving a direct purpose. Emotions provide information about what we need and what’s happening inside and around us. In therapy, we can forge a new way of relating to our emotions so that they can work for us and toward recovery, healing, and feeling better on a day-to-day basis.