How I Work
Walking Through Change Together
Starting therapy can feel like stepping into the unknown, which is scary! However, this trek is one we take together — exploring everything that’s there: the good, the bad, and everything in between. We’ll uncover what’s been holding you back and find the path that will actually get you where you want to be (at a pace that feels right for you).
Therapy is highly personal, and that’s one of the things I love most about this work. Every healing journey is unique, carrying its own lore, challenges, and discoveries. I’m an adventurer at heart in that way. Some people come to therapy wanting deep emotional processing, while others are looking for practical tools to navigate life. Most need a mix of both. Whatever you need, I’ll be right there with you, and we’ll shape our work together in a way that truly honors your experience.
As cliché as it may sound, the journey matters more than the destination. Choosing a guide you trust—someone who works with you in the way that you need—makes all the difference. Therapy is the path towards understanding and learning to trust yourself again, making room for comfort and compassion to lead you. Until those feel like second nature, I’ll be here to lend them to you while you build them for yourself.
What to Expect
When You Reach Out:
Once you fill out the contact form on my website, I’ll reach out within a day or two to schedule a free consultation call. This brief call gives us a chance to talk about what’s bringing you to therapy, how I work, and go over practical details like scheduling and fees. It’s also a chance for both of us to ensure we’re a good fit before moving forward.
Our First Time Meeting (The Intake):
If we decide to work together, we’ll schedule a 75-minute intake session. This session includes:
Reviewing and signing consent forms
Exploring your history and current challenges
Talking through what you’d like to get out of therapy and deciding together how we’ll get there
The First Few Sessions:
Our first few sessions focus on building trust and laying a strong foundation for our work together. In these sessions, we focus on understanding where you are, equipping you with tangible tools for support, and mapping out what needs healing and how we’ll approach it.
What does this look like?
Perhaps we’ll use a structured activity to help us get to know each other in a way that feels natural and safe
We’ll explore grounding techniques and sensory tools for calming or alerting your nervous system as needed
I’ll have you practice body scanning – helping you recognize how emotions show up physically in your body
Eventually, we’ll begin mapping out parts of yourself—using imagery or words to sort through and organize your experiences. This helps us identify emotions, patterns, and internal conflicts that need our attention in therapy
We’ll figure out where to begin with deeper work—sometimes it’s obvious, and other times we need to spend a little more time exploring all that you’re bringing to the table before deciding where to focus our efforts
Throughout All of Our Sessions
While what we work on will depend on you and where we are at in your healing journey, there are some aspects of our sessions that I do try to include each time we meet:
We’ll check in at the beginning about any highs or lows since our last session
I’ll bring up what we intended to address at the end of the last session, and give you the option to move forward on that or to pivot to something that feels more important
At the end of every session, we’ll reflect on takeaways and discuss what felt most (or least) helpful—encouraging you to tune into your needs and advocate for your comfort
Before we wrap up, we’ll decide what to focus on next, keeping our work intentional and aligned with your needs
My Approach in Therapy
Ultimately, I tailor my approach to your needs. Sometimes our work is structured, sometimes more open-ended. It might be creative and metaphorical, or grounded and practical—whatever is going to work best for you. To give you a better sense of how I work, here are a few of the main tools I often draw from:
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ART is a structured, imagery-based therapy that helps process trauma and distressing emotions quickly. Most people experience noticeable relief in just 1-5 sessions, as ART helps the brain reprocess difficult memories and feelings so they no longer feel overwhelming. I’m trained at the highest level in ART and have years of experience using it to treat a wide range of issues, adjusting it to fit each person and how their brain processes distress. I often start with ART because of how quickly it works, but I adapt my approach to each person, blending in other therapies as needed.
Learn more about ART here
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EMDR is a powerful, evidence-based therapy for processing trauma, anxiety, and distressing memories. Like ART, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation—like guided eye movements or tapping—to help your brain reprocess painful experiences so they no longer feel as vivid or overwhelming. You remain in control the entire time, while your nervous system learns that the event is over and you are safe now. Many people find EMDR helps them feel lighter, calmer, and more grounded in just a few sessions. I might change the pacing and structure to better suit your comfort level, promoting a better felt experience and end results.
As a clinician, and as someone who has experienced both EMDR and ART, I find that they are very similar. I find that EMDR tends to be more thorough, while ART tends to be easier and faster. While ART is a bit more structured and metaphorical, EMDR is more thought-based and open-ended (which allows it to clean up those unanticipated areas). Because of those reasons, I tend to prefer beginning with ART, and using EMDR as needed. However, I’m always going to adapt my approach based on your preferences and what is working better for your mind.Learn more about EMDR here
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IFS helps you explore the different "parts" of yourself— like the part of you that wants to move forward constantly battling the part that feels stuck. This approach fosters deep insight and healing, helping you recognize how your inner protectors work to shield you from pain. Through this, you’ll learn to appreciate them while also gently shifting what no longer serves you. This approach aims to fill you with self-compassion, confidence, and curiosity about yourself. Most people find IFS to be a refreshing and empowering way to understand themselves, and that perspective is how I view what you bring to therapy, even when I’m using other modalities. I tend to start with ART first because it works faster, but I often integrate the inner child/protector work that IFS focuses on as needed. When someone doesn’t resonate with ART, I find most people love it when we pivot to IFS instead.
Find out more about IFS here
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If you struggle to find the right words (or don’t naturally think in images), sandtray therapy offers a hands-on way to explore what you’re feeling. Through arranging objects in a sandtray, you can explore your inner world without needing words. I find this makes it especially useful for neurodivergent clients and can help even the most analytical minds tap into what they’re feeling.
Explore more about Sandtray Therapy here
Your Voice Matters
Therapy isn’t something done to you—it’s something we shape together. That means:
You’re an active part of the process. I’m not just telling you what to do to make yourself feel better (that’s not how therapy works)
I check in often to make sure what we’re doing still feels helpful (this is essential for therapy actually working)
And if something’s not working, we adjust
I don’t usually assign homework unless you ask for it. I believe that healing happens in the therapy room, and that meaningful change flows from there.
If you’re feeling ready to start, I’d be honored to help you along that journey.
