MY SPECIALTIES
ANXIETY
Anxiety is a normal part of life but it becomes a problem when it causes distress in your social, work or other areas of life. Anxiety can present itself in many different forms like general anxiety, social or performance anxiety, test anxiety, panic attacks and phobias. Anxiety can show up with some of these symptoms: fear, difficulty concentrating, problems sleeping (difficulty falling or staying asleep), restlessness, persistent worry, perceiving situations as threatening when they are not, nervousness or irritability.
Sometimes anxiety starts small, but it can snowball to be unmanageable. It can spread from one area of your life to others. It can restrict engagement in activities that you used to enjoy. Anxiety needs to be addressed as it can easily take over your life. I will give you tools that you can use to manage any type of anxiety you experience in your daily life and will work with you to reduce or eliminate overwhelming anxiety.
GRIEF & LOSS
Many life experiences can cause grief — and whatever you may have experienced, remember that your feelings of grief are valid and natural. A sense of loss, whether it is a material or immaterial loss, creates feelings of grief. Many types of loss can deeply affect your emotions, such as:
•The death of a family member
•The loss of a job
•The death of a pet
•The loss of a friend who moved away
•A divorce or breakup
•A broken dream or goal
•A move or change
TRAUMA & PTSD
Sometimes life happens in an instant and turns our world upside down. Maybe you experienced or witnessed a car accident, death, assault, threat of death or serious injury, news of a divorce or an affair. You might be experiencing Acute Stress Disorder or Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if you are experiencing some of these symptoms: recurring memories or nightmares, flashbacks (memories that feel like the event is occurring in the present moment), hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, avoiding people, places, situations or reminders of the event, feelings of detachment, inability to experience positive emotions, irritability and angry outbursts, difficulty concentrating, feeling anxious, difficulty falling or staying asleep . These symptoms drain your energy, negatively impact your relationships and make you question your sanity. I am here to tell you that there is hope and these symptoms can be reduced and sometimes eliminated. You can find yourself again. If you think you might have Acute Stress Disorder or PTSD, I am here to help.
MY TREATMENT APPROACH
I am trained in different types of psychotherapy approaches, yet the type of psychotherapy I provide will depend on your specific needs and goals. I utilize a wholistic and integrative approach that utilizes EMDR as my primary modality combined with expressive arts, play, breathwork, and somatic in order to facilitate the healing process.
Your success in treatment is what I care about the most. With this in mind, I opt for implementing those types of therapies or interventions that have been shown to be effective through research (often referred to as “evidence-based” treatment). By doing so we maximize the probability that treatment will be successful for you.
EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps people recover from trauma and difficult life experiences. EMDR is based on the belief that trauma is stuck unprocessed in the memory network. When this occurs, seeking professional help is recommended.
EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to activate the brain's natural information processing system, similar to what occurs during rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep). The information processing system then integrates the memory networks with other information allowing healing to occur.
What is bilateral stimulation? Bilateral stimulation is a visual, auditory or tactile stimuli that fluctuates between the left and right side of the body.
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PLAY THERAPY/ EXPRESSIVE ARTS
Sometimes we struggle to find the words to express our thoughts, feelings and beliefs about ourselves, our families, life, problems, and struggles. Through sand tray and expressive arts , we use drawings, or objects, miniatures, and figurines to communicate in pictures and in play what we cannot put into words. This form of therapy is especially powerful for trauma survivors as sometimes they do not have the ability to verbally express themselves. Adults find Sand Tray to be an effective and often surprising and enlightening experience as they are able to finally put things into words they never could express before the exercise.