services
Therapy for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADS):
Embarking on motherhood is one of the biggest changes that happens in one’s life and the journey can be overwhelming. Fertility challenges, pregnancy, and new motherhood can all cause huge changes to your body, relationships, career, personal identity, finances, family, and friendships, and can leave you feeling lost and alone. This, combined with sleep deprivation, hormonal changes, and caring for a newborn can make the day-to-day feel nearly impossible.
If you're struggling, you are not alone, and you can feel better.
I offer therapy during all stages of motherhood, including struggles with fertility or maternal loss. I will help you understand and contextualize how you're feeling. Together, we'll tailor treatment goals based on what is important to you. We'll formulate practical and easy-to-execute tools to help you feel more in control, moving from survival to thriving.
Therapy for Depression, and Bipolar Disorder:
Depression is a clinical disorder characterized by sadness, negative mood, low energy, loss of interest in pleasurable activities, change in appetite, and disrupted sleep patterns. These symptoms are persistent and cause noticeable disruption in daily functioning. Sometimes these symptoms are so severe that it can be hard to get out of bed or want to keep going on with your life. Feeling depressed can be completely overwhelming and seem never ending.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings between depression and mania, and can impact energy, thinking, behavior, and sleep. Symptoms include, feeling elated, with increased energy and a decreased need for sleep. During a manic episode, you may experience racing thoughts and rapid speech, an inflated sense of self-worth, reckless behavior, and increased irritability.
Therapy for Anxiety, and OCD:
Anxiety can show up in many areas of life and cause you to become consumed with worry, fear, and panic. The thoughts and feelings that accompany this can cause physical responses, including racing heartbeat, difficulty breathing, sweating, and change in body temperature. When these feelings and sensations become overwhelming, day-to-day life may be impacted, and you may avoid things to stave off anxiety. This can create other emotions, including shame and guilt, if you aren’t able to show up in your life the way that you want.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a specific type of anxiety disorder characterized by uncontrollable, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive actions (compulsions), or a mix of both. You may find yourself engaging in time-consuming rituals that can cause significant distress and interfere with your daily life and relationships
There is help. I use a number of evidence based interventions that are incredibly effective to manage these disorders.
CBT is an evidence-based approach to anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder that asks you to evaluate the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Once we understand and untangle this relationship, we can develop more nuanced and accurate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Freeing yourself from negative thought patterns and behaviors is proven to help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
ACT is another evidence-based intervention that takes CBT a step further by asking you to disentangle your thoughts and feelings from your sense of who you are and letting these thoughts and feelings go by using intentional noticing and mindfulness. Once we let them go, we can shine a light on your values and take practical steps to help you live a life infused with them.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard of care for OCD and other anxiety disorders including specific phobia and panic disorder. It is a regimented, progressive and repetitive method of exposing you to your fears and feared scenarios. It may seem counterintuitive, but the more we experience and feel anxiety and panic in a controlled setting, the easier it is to overcome and eradicate.
Therapy for Trauma/PTSD
Traumatic events can have a long-lasting impact on your life. These events include one time incidents like an accident or complicated birthing experience, or repeated events like on-going sexual abuse and violence. For people who develop PTSD after a trauma, persistent symptoms of re-experiencing, avoidance, and increased arousal can impair functioning in various areas of life.
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) begins by providing education about PTSD and traumatic events. PTSD is a disorder of non-recovery, and CPT will help you get unstuck, reduce symptoms of PTSD, and recover. We will identify deeply held beliefs and worldviews that developed due to trauma, and gently challenge and change them through regimented cognitive restructuring.
Couples Therapy
Relationships take work and nurturing, and sometimes it can be difficult to put in the necessary resources for a relationship to thrive. This can be especially difficult when a major life event happens, including getting married, moving, or the birth of a child. I work with couples to turn toward each other when it feels easier to turn away. This includes evaluating how you're communicating, what needs you and your partner have, and how to improve and rekindle these aspects when life gets in the way.
Psychoeducation and Family Support
The insight, gains and growth that happen in therapy are beautiful and life changing. At times, these changes can cause shifts in our relationships with our loved ones, which can cause a difficult transition. It can be tremendously helpful to include these loved ones in sessions in order to facilitate conversations and provide information. As an extension of individual therapy, I offer psychoeducational sessions with loved ones to provide support, information, and guidance as you grow and change through the therapeutic process.