Mental Health Counselor

I am a provider at our Aldie clinic who provides therapy services!

I enjoy providing trauma-informed care to clients and working with PTSD-related symptoms, body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) and other OCD-related behaviors, challenges transitioning to adulthood, anxiety, and self-exploration. Clients like this need a safe and trusting relationship to experience and explore within, coping strategies to reduce disturbances, and awareness of their sensory and internal experience. Their goals may be to reduce problematic symptoms, understand and get to the root of the disturbances, and to learn how to overcome or accept and live with the challenges. They want to be able to feel safe with themselves and thrive.

I can help this type of client by providing a non-judgmental and safe space and build a trusting therapeutic relationship by validating their experience and helping them understand how behaviors or symptoms work to protect them. I help them explore various parts of themselves and understand how they both help and harm or conflict with the self or other parts. Through this exploration, we determine the root or start of symptoms or behaviors. The theories I use for this exploration include IFS or ego-state to identify and explore parts within the client, strengths-based therapy to help the client learn how to overcome or cope, and EMDR to help the client reprocess disturbances and heal.

I work to support and treat the whole person, and recognize that behaviors or thought disturbances often have deeper roots than may be in conscious awareness. By digging to the roots of the client, they can understand themselves better, gain more self-compassion and acceptance of themselves, and use their strengths to overcome and thrive in spite of their challenges.