WHAT TO EXPECT

Therapy is a very particular kind of conversation – a collaboration whose aim is to foster increased self-knowledge and, ultimately, a greater sense of well-being.

At the moment, you may be aware of living through painful recurring patterns; you may feel uncertain of your purpose. You may be unclear about your own desires and direction in life. Perhaps you're feeling overwhelmed, enduring a particular sorrow or hardship. Perhaps an ongoing issue or challenge that was once manageable can no longer be ignored. 

When we sit down together, you are invited to talk about whatever is most pressing. I listen closely, trying to understand your life from your perspective. I strive to stay attuned to you, emotionally and intellectually, and to what you might need from our sessions together. I also take note of themes and patterns that emerge and share them when I think it can be helpful. I am aware of the ways that cultural biases – around race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or physical appearance, for example – can impact individuals' mental health, and bring this into my work, along with a commitment to exploring my own prejudices. As a therapist, I don't offer advice or easy fixes — instead, I prioritize your agency. In therapy, we work together to discover what you want and need for yourself — even when (especially when!) it is buried under fear, guilt or shame.

Therapy is space where you can allow different facets of your self and your history to emerge and be explored with a compassionate curiosity. The process requires courage and trust. I hope to create an environment where both those elements can flourish.

MY APPROACH

The relational school of thought holds that some of our suffering is caused by important relationships in our past. We adapted to our early circumstances in ways that, at one time, helped us get by, but these coping mechanisms don't always serve us well later in life. Often we can sense echoes of these adaptations but don't have the means to understand them, and they can influence our relationships both with others and with ourselves, getting in our way of experiencing things like pleasure, ease, creativity, satisfaction and self-confidence. 

In relational therapy, as in other types of therapy, you are given an opportunity to talk about what's troubling or frustrating you, at a pace that is comfortable for you, but our relationship – the relationship between therapist and client – is also something we keep in our awareness and can talk about openly, as well. 

My background in the arts informs the way I view the process of therapy: Life, like art, poses difficult questions, and presents meanings and symbols that are occasionally unclear, shifting, contradictory and/or multilayered. And in the same way that each of us will find a different meaning in a given work, we will each forge our own path to making sense of our own lives. Sometimes we find answers; sometimes we find instead a way to be at peace with having no answers.

INITIAL CONSULTATION

The initial consultation is half an hour. In this session, we can discuss what brings you to therapy and what you hope to get from it. It also provides an opportunity for you to ask me about my practice and voice any concerns you might have. There's no pressure to share anything that you don't want to, and no obligation to keep working together if you don't feel that we make a good fit.  

FEES

Please inquire. 

MISSED AND CANCELLED APPOINTMENTS

Clients must pay the full session fee for appointments cancelled on less than 24 hours' notice.