My Clinical Approach Depth-Oriented

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Surface-level solutions often fall short because they don't address underlying causes. While symptom management has its place, genuine transformation requires understanding why challenges exist in the first place. My approach is rooted in depth psychology—the belief that lasting change comes from self-awareness, insight, and understanding how your past shapes your present.

Your story began long before today's challenges emerged. Early childhood experiences, family dynamics, relationships, and environments all shaped who you are. Many of our current struggles—anxiety, depression, self-defeating behaviors—have roots in these early experiences and unconscious processes. By exploring these connections together, you gain the clarity and insight needed to heal and grow authentically.

This isn't about blaming your past or dwelling endlessly on childhood. It's about understanding yourself fully so you can make conscious choices moving forward, rather than being driven by patterns you don't recognize.

Trauma isn't just an event—it's how experiences live in your body, mind, and nervous system. Traumatic experiences can include obvious events like abuse, violence, or loss, but also subtler experiences like chronic neglect, invalidation, or growing up in unstable environments.

• Safety First: You set the pace. We don't push into traumatic material before you're ready. Healing requires feeling safe enough to explore difficult territory.
• Your Resilience: You've survived. The ways you've coped—even when they feel problematic now—were adaptive responses that helped you survive. We honor that resilience while building new tools.
• The Body Remembers: Trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. We pay attention to physical sensations, nervous system responses, and somatic experiences alongside thoughts and feelings.
• Relationship as Healing: Many traumas occurred in relationship (abuse, betrayal, abandonment). Healing also happens in relationship—through experiencing safety, attunement, and trust in the therapeutic connection.
• Cultural Context Matters: Trauma occurs within cultural, social, and systemic contexts. I recognize how factors like racism, discrimination, poverty, and marginalization contribute to traumatic stress.

My practice specializes in anxiety, depression, and trauma while also addressing related concerns that often co-occur with these conditions. For specialized conditions requiring specific treatment protocols, I provide appropriate referrals while continuing to support other aspects of your mental health.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges, yet it's also one of the most treatable. Whether you experience generalized worry, panic attacks, social anxiety, or specific phobias, we explore both symptom management strategies and the deeper roots of your anxiety.

We examine:

• What triggers your anxiety and why
• How anxiety served you in the past (even if it doesn't now)
• Underlying fears and beliefs driving anxious thoughts
• The connection between anxiety and early attachment experiences
• Somatic/physical manifestations of anxiety

Treatment includes:

• Understanding your unique anxiety patterns
• Developing grounding and regulation skills
• Exploring unconscious fears and conflicts
• Building tolerance for uncertainty and discomfort
• Addressing perfectionism, control needs, or hypervigilance
• Monitoring progress using standardized assessment tools (GAD-7, Beck Anxiety Inventory)

Sleep Anxiety & Insomnia: When anxiety interferes with sleep, we address the underlying anxious thoughts, bedtime worry patterns, and nervous system activation that prevent restful sleep. I also provide guidance on sleep hygiene practices and may recommend complementary approaches like meditation and relaxation techniques.

Depression feels like being stuck—in sadness, hopelessness, numbness, or emptiness. But depression often carries important messages about unmet needs, unexpressed anger, unprocessed loss, or disconnection from authentic self.

We explore:

• What your depression might be protecting you from feeling
• Patterns of self-criticism, shame, or unworthiness
• Loss (recent or historical) that remains ungrieved
• Anger turned inward or suppressed emotions
• Disconnection from meaning, purpose, or vitality

Treatment includes:

• Addressing immediate safety (if suicidal thoughts present)
• Exploring the function and meaning of your depression
• Reconnecting with emotions that may be buried
• Examining internalized beliefs about yourself and the world
• Building self-compassion and challenging harsh self-judgment
• Gradually reengaging with life and activities
• Tracking symptoms using evidence-based measures (PHQ-9, Beck Depression Inventory)

Whether from a single traumatic event or complex ongoing trauma, PTSD symptoms (flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, avoidance, emotional numbness) reflect your nervous system's attempt to protect you from overwhelming experiences.

We address:

• Stabilization and safety (establishing resources before trauma processing)
• Nervous system regulation and grounding techniques
• Processing traumatic memories when you're ready
• Challenging beliefs trauma created ("I'm unsafe," "I'm broken," "It was my fault")
• Rebuilding trust in yourself, others, and the world
• Integrating traumatic experiences into your life story

My approach draws from:

• Psychodynamic trauma therapy
• Attachment-focused trauma work
• Somatic awareness and regulation
• Narrative integration

Major life changes—even positive ones like career advancement or relocation—can trigger anxiety, depression, identity confusion, or grief for what's being left behind.

Common transitions I work with:

• Career changes or job loss
• Relocation or immigration
• Retirement
• Health diagnoses
• Loss and grief
• Identity transitions

We explore:

• What this transition means for your identity
• Conflicting feelings about change (excitement and fear can coexist)
• Patterns from past transitions influencing current experience
• Grief for what's ending alongside hope for what's beginning
• Building confidence to navigate uncertainty

I work with clients whose primary concern is mental health (anxiety, depression, trauma) who also struggle with substance use. My experience in dual diagnosis treatment settings allows me to address how mental health and substance use interact and reinforce each other.

Appropriate for:

• Clients using substances to cope with anxiety, depression, or trauma
• Those in recovery who need mental health support
• Individuals wanting to explore their relationship with substances
• Clients working with other addiction specialists who need integrated mental health care

Not appropriate for:

• Primary substance use disorders requiring specialized addiction treatment
• Severe addiction needing medical detox or intensive programs
• Court-mandated substance abuse treatment

For these situations, I provide referrals to specialized addiction treatment while remaining available to address mental health concerns once stabilization occurs.

Many people struggle with the psychological and emotional aspects of weight and body image—shame, low self-esteem, using food to cope with emotions, or anxiety and depression connected to weight concerns.

I address:

• Body image distress and shame
• Emotional eating patterns (eating in response to stress, sadness, boredom)
• Self-esteem issues related to weight
• Anxiety and depression connected to body concerns
• The psychological impact of weight stigma and discrimination
• How trauma or other mental health conditions may contribute to eating patterns

Important: I do not provide weight loss counseling, diet planning, or treatment for primary eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, severe binge eating disorder). For eating disorders or medical weight management, I refer to appropriate specialists while supporting your mental health.

For individuals experiencing mild obsessive-compulsive symptoms (intrusive thoughts, repetitive behaviors, excessive worry about contamination or harm), I provide supportive therapy to address the anxiety and distress these symptoms cause.

I can help with:

• Understanding how OCD symptoms function
• Managing anxiety related to obsessive thoughts
• Developing coping strategies
• Addressing the emotional impact of symptoms

Important: Severe OCD typically requires specialized treatment (Exposure and Response Prevention/ERP). For moderate to severe OCD, I provide referrals to specialists trained in evidence-based OCD treatment while continuing to address other mental health concerns.

For adults already diagnosed with ADHD, I provide supportive counseling to address the emotional and psychological challenges that often accompany ADHD.

We work on:

• Managing feelings of frustration, overwhelm, or inadequacy
• Addressing anxiety and depression related to ADHD
• Building self-esteem and challenging negative self-beliefs
• Developing organizational and time management strategies
• Understanding how ADHD affects relationships and work
• Addressing trauma or shame from past ADHD-related struggles

Important: I do not provide ADHD assessment or diagnosis. Clients should have an existing diagnosis from a psychiatrist, psychologist, or other qualified professional.

Individual mental health counseling sessions are $150 per 50-minute session.

I don't accept insurance at this time, but provide detailed receipts for HSA/FSA reimbursement. Private pay means no insurance restrictions on treatment approach, session frequency, or duration—truly personalized care focused solely on your needs.

First cancellation is complimentary. Subsequent cancellations with less than 24 hours notice: $50 fee.

We begin by understanding what brings you to therapy, your current challenges, relevant history, and what you hope to gain. I'll ask about your early life, family dynamics, significant relationships, and past experiences that shaped you. This isn't interrogation—it's collaborative exploration to understand your unique story.

You'll complete brief assessment measures (PHQ-9, GAD-7) to establish baseline symptom levels. We'll use these periodically to track progress.

Sessions are 50 minutes, typically weekly (though frequency can adjust based on needs and intensity). Unlike some approaches where I give directives or assign homework, depth-oriented therapy is more exploratory and relational.

What happens in sessions:

• You talk about what's on your mind—current struggles, dreams, memories, feelings, thoughts
• I listen deeply, not just to content but to patterns, themes, and what might be beneath the surface
• I offer observations, connections, and interpretations that might deepen your understanding
• We explore resistance, defenses, and uncomfortable material with curiosity rather than judgment
• The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a place to understand your relational patterns

This isn't passive listening. I actively engage, challenge assumptions, point out patterns, and help you see connections you might miss. But the insights that matter most are the ones you discover—I'm a guide, not an expert telling you what to do.

Depth work takes time. While some symptom relief may come quickly, genuine transformation—changing core beliefs, healing old wounds, shifting unconscious patterns—unfolds over months or years, not weeks.

This isn't because therapy is ineffective. It's because real change requires:

• Building safety and trust in the therapeutic relationship
• Gradually approaching defended-against material
• Working through resistance and ambivalence
• Integrating new insights into daily life
• Allowing unconscious processes to unfold

If you're looking for quick symptom relief or a 6-session solution, this may not be the right approach. But if you're ready for lasting transformation, this work changes lives.

Ideal clients:

• Want to understand themselves deeply, not just manage symptoms
• Are willing to explore uncomfortable territory
• Can tolerate ambiguity and sitting with difficult feelings
• Are curious about their inner world
• Value insight and self-awareness
• Are committed to the process (willing to show up consistently)

May not be ideal if:

• You're in acute crisis needing immediate intensive intervention
• You want concrete skills/techniques without exploration
• You prefer highly structured, directive therapy
• You're looking for quick fixes or short-term solutions
• You're unwilling to examine painful material

Session Format: 50-minute sessions via secure telehealth (available to North Carolina residents only)

Frequency: Typically weekly; can adjust based on clinical needs and your schedule

Investment: $150 per session

Insurance: I don't accept insurance, but provide detailed receipts for HSA/FSA reimbursement. Private pay means no insurance restrictions on treatment approach, session frequency, or duration—truly personalized care.

Confidentiality: All sessions are confidential within legal and ethical limits (I'm required to break confidentiality only if there's risk of harm to self/others, child/elder abuse, or court order)

Cancellation Policy: 24-hour notice required for cancellations to avoid full session fee