Illness, Dying, Grief
In our culture there is little space devoted to exploring illness, death and dying, and grief. Turning away from these facets of life may serve us well until we experience a medical diagnosis or trauma that changes the way we live in the world.  As a therapist, I join clients on a journey of exploration into this part of life, which is often difficult to face. We create space for complicated emotions to arise, like uncertainty, loneliness, sadness, anger, and fear. I help clients process their feelings, explore concepts of identity, legacy, & new meaning, and develop internal resilience in the face of uncertainty.

Prolonged Grief Treatment
Prolonged Grief (PG) is grief that continues to be intense and pervasive, disrupting everyday life for longer than a year. People experiencing PG may feel “stuck” in grief or “frozen in time” as if the death had just happened. Grief occupies their thoughts and feelings, and the future seems bleak and empty. Prolonged Grief Treatment (PGT) is a treatment created at Columbia University, which is specifically designed to help people who feel stuck in their grief. The treatment has a specified time frame and targets specific milestones aimed at helping integrate grief and restoring a sense of well-being.

Trauma/EMDR
Trauma can arise from many different aspects of our lives, including childhood abuse, domestic violence, war, accidents, devastating medical diagnoses, and the death of a loved one, to name a few. When trauma goes unaddressed, it affects our quality of life. We may struggle with sleep disturbance, flashbacks, depression, anxiety, loss of self esteem, guilt, or avoidance. As a therapist, I work with trauma through EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing). EMDR works with resilience building and bilateral stimulation so a trauma can be reprocessed in the brain and stored in a way that is no longer activating. The trauma then becomes a memory rather than something that feels like an active threat.

Life Transitions
To be human is to be in transition. Sometimes these transitions are challenging, leaving us feeling ungrounded, worried, and sad. As a therapist, I help clients explore and define their intentions, overcome obstacles, and grow their capacity to cope and transform.

Anxiety and Depression
Most of us experience feelings of anxiety and depression at some point in our lives as we confront various life stressors. These feelings are often a normal reaction to challenging situations. Sometimes, however, we experience anxiety and/or depression in an ongoing way. We may experience symptoms like a lingering sad or anxious mood, intrusive or disturbing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, low motivation, decrease in self confidence, and decreased interest in life. As a therapist, I work with clients to decrease symptoms through analyzing and creating new thinking and behavior patterns, exploring life style changes, enhancing resilience through stress-reduction, and increasing support.