Adjustment Issues
Change can be hard. Even "good" change can produce mixed feelings, a sense of instability as you adjust to a "new normal", and grief for a former way of life. I have worked with clients navigating many types of transitions, and I have particular experience with the many transitions associated with young adulthood, including adjustment to college, significant romantic relationships, acculturation, and differentiation from family of origin.
Anxiety
We all experience anxiety from time to time, but sometimes anxiety can hold such power over us that it impacts our daily functioning, leads us to avoid activities that we love, or keeps us from being fully present in our lives. Whether your anxiety is generalized, social, work/school related, or takes some other form, it usually serves a function. For instance, anxiety may function to protect us from feeling shame or vulnerability. In therapy, I work with clients to turn toward their anxiety with compassion and curiosity in order to better understand anxiety's function and relate to their anxiety-triggers in a new way. I have particular experience working with high-achievers whose anxiety takes the form of perfectionism.
Eating Disorders
In our diet- and weight-obsessed culture, many, if not most of us struggle to make peace in our relationships with our bodies, food, and exercise. Oftentimes, our attempts to improve our sense of wellness can lead to the development of rigidity, fixation, and perfectionism around food and exercise.
When working with clients struggling in these areas, my approach is informed by the Health At Every Size paradigm, which de-emphasizes the importance of weight/body size, emphasizes holistic health and body inclusivity, and denounces size discrimination. Through this approach, I support clients in the development of a more flexible, positive, and accepting relationship to food and body.
Relationship Issues
So many of our problems are relational in nature. In working with clients experiencing difficulty in a romantic, familial, workplace, or friend relationship, I support clients in exploring relevant relational patterns and associated emotions to illuminate and clarify the challenging relational dynamic. This process may involve developing insight into the client's early attachment patterns, which often contribute to present-day relationship difficulties. Through therapy, it is my hope that all my clients develop a better understanding of themselves in the context of their relationships.
Trauma
We all carry some form of trauma. In addition to the more overt examples of trauma like abuse, violence, sexual assault, or combat trauma, trauma can take more insidious forms, including interpersonal trauma, poverty, racism, bullying, social rejection, and religious trauma. When we are traumatized, our sense of freedom and choice is taken from us, so it is important that trauma work in therapy happens at a pace and in a style that feels safe for the client.
Healing trauma through therapy may be a long-term process and takes many forms. For example, trauma work may involve naming and exploring the impact of the trauma, processing shame, and exploring new ways of relating to the traumatic experience.
Women's Issues
To me, women's issues include (but are certainly not limited to) interpersonal boundaries, impostor syndrome, social role conflict, and sexual health. Although these concerns are not exclusive to women, socialization within a patriarchal society can lead women to be more vulnerable to them. Women of color may be especially impacted by these issues. In my clinical work with women, I emphasize agency, choice, and self-compassion to support women in feeling more in control and empowered in their day-to-day lives.
Verified |
Licensed in IL
773-835-4750