Specialties:

Anxiety: Do you find yourself ruminating on certain interactions, losing sleep over future situations, or having a stomach ache every time you receive feedback? Anxiety can impact so many areas of your life. It can take over your body, your mind, and your relationships. There are so many ways I can support with that. Together, we would:

1. Develop an understanding of your anxiety using psychoeducation and create a treatment plan so you feel empowered to live your life alongside your anxiety.
2. Recognize anxiety triggers and create a list of healthy (and unhealthy!) coping strategies.
3. Build more tolerance to distressing situations, because exposure is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety symptoms.
4. Check in periodically to assess treatment progress and how we can move forward in a way that feels productive.

Life transitions: Are you getting ready for college, a new job, a big relationship change, or any other major life event? Transitions can feel overwhelming, and there’s a reason “adjustment disorder” is identified in the DSM-5. Adjustments can cause irritability, hopelessness, or withdrawal from loved ones. Together, we can:

1. Explore feelings and emotions as they emmerge around the big change.
2. Create a plan with identified coping strategies and social supports for big changes that are coming up.
3. Use ACT to identify our values and determine how we can move through life changes and maintain our values.
4. Reframe negative thoughts around changes and recognize how your strengths will see you through this time.

Adolescents & Teens, special education issues (Children with IEPs and 504s), school avoidance & absences: Because of my “day job” as an adjustment counselor, I work with many neurodivergent students and families. In particular, I support many students who present with high functioning anxiety, school avoidance or chronic absenteeism, or students on the autism spectrum. In the private practice setting, we would:

1. Identify the root cause of school anxiety and avoidance and determine action steps that could help negate some of that anxiety.
2. Create a toolbox of coping skills and practice them “in the moment.”
3. Communicate with the school providers to ensure support during the school day.
4. Support parents with psychoeducation around school avoidance, exposure therapy, and the importance of building a distress tolerance.

Family work: Working with children and adolescents is never done successfully without collaboration with families. Together, we can:

1. Explore the family system and identify the patterns of behavior that are getting in the way of successful communication and daily functioning.
2. Work with individual family members, separate or with parents present, to determine behavioral changes or further treatment that would improve the family system.
3. Create a plan with other providers who may be working with the family.