About
I am a clinical social worker with extensive experience providing psychotherapy to adults, adolescents, families and groups. Because a one-size-fits all approach does not apply to the complexity the human experience, I draw from a wide range of modalities to help those with emotional, behavioral, and interpersonal concerns – including Schema Therapy, EMDR, Attachment-Based Family Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, and Supportive Parenting of Anxious Childhood Emotions.
I have a particular interest working with those who are struggling with problematic life patterns - often emerging in interpersonal relationships with partners, family members, co-workers or friends and often involving negative feelings and thoughts about oneself and others. These patterns tend to be rooted in childhood and adolescence due to attachment styles, mismatches with caregiver temperaments, and unmet emotional needs. For some, early trauma is a contributing factor. For others, "attachment ruptures" (disruptions and misattunement in the parent-relationship) is a contributing factor.
I will work in close collaboration with you to individualize the best approach to understanding, processing, and making meaning out of your experience so that real change in the present is possible.
I also have an interest in hard-to-treat conditions that have not responded well to prior psychotherapy. In my experience treatment resistant depression and anxiety, attachment trauma, personality disorders, and similarly difficult conditions respond well to Schema Therapy - an evidenced-based therapy that integrates elements of cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, attachment theory, object relations theory, and gestalt therapy into one unified, systematic approach to treatment.
My interest in Schema Therapy led me to complete two years of advanced clinical training at the NJ Institute for Schema Therapy. I am now an Advanced Certified Schema Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer with the International Society of Schema Therapy.
My diverse background includes treating complex behavioral health conditions in a wide range of settings, including active duty military personnel at the Department of Defense, adolescents and families at the DC Department of Behavioral Health school-based mental health program, and individuals and families attending intensive outpatient programs.
I earned my MSW from Catholic University in DC and spent my advanced year internship at the Inpatient Schizophrenia Research Program at NIMH where I worked with patients involved in research as well as their families.
I also completed four years of advanced post-graduate clinical training in Family Systems Theory and Psychotherapy at The Bowen Center for the Study of the Family in Georgetown. Family Systems provides an avenue for clients to recognize the role social systems play in maintaining problems.
I am passionate about helping clients achieve personal growth and I work diligently to guide clients along their path to a better life.
