My Approach

I approach psychotherapy with curiosity, openness, and a deep respect for the complexity of being human. I don't believe people are problems to be solved, nor do I believe there's a single right way to live a meaningful life.

My approach draws from several complementary traditions, including relational psychodynamic, existential-humanistic, experiential, and parts-oriented psychotherapy. That's admittedly a lot of syllables. What matters most isn't the terminology, but how these perspectives inform the work we do together.

Understanding Our Patterns: The Psychodynamic Perspective

We don't become who we are in isolation.

Our experiences, particularly within our earliest relationships, shape how we understand ourselves, what we expect from others, and how we navigate the world.

Along the way, we develop ways of protecting ourselves, managing difficult feelings, and maintaining connection. Some of these patterns become so familiar that we hardly notice them, even when they leave us feeling stuck or dissatisfied.

Psychodynamic psychotherapy invites us to become curious about what may be operating outside our awareness.

I'm particularly interested in the different parts of ourselves that sometimes seem to want contradictory things. The part that longs for intimacy and the part that fears vulnerability. The part that wants change and the part that clings to what's familiar.

Rather than treating these contradictions as problems to eliminate, we can explore what they might be telling us about our experiences, needs, fears, and desires.

Being Human: The Existential-Humanistic Perspective

Being human is quite an undertaking.

We find ourselves in a world we didn't choose, navigating relationships, making decisions, confronting uncertainty, and trying to make sense of experiences that don't always make sense.

We encounter loss, change, limitations, and the reality that much of life is beyond our control. But we also encounter beauty, connection, creativity, wonder, and awe.

Existential-humanistic psychotherapy invites us to explore what it means to be alive in the midst of all of this. How do we make meaning of our experiences? What matters to us? How do we respond when life doesn't unfold as expected? What possibilities might exist even within circumstances we cannot change?

I'm interested in these questions not because I believe there are universal answers, but because exploring them can deepen our understanding of ourselves and how we want to live.

More Than Insight: The Experiential Dimension

Understanding something intellectually isn't necessarily the same as experiencing it differently.

You might know exactly why you respond to certain situations the way you do and still find yourself responding in the same familiar way. Insight can be valuable, but it doesn't always translate into change.

That's why I'm interested not only in the stories we tell about our lives, but also in what's happening as we tell them.

What feelings arise? What happens in your body? What do you notice yourself wanting to say - or not say? What happens when we slow down and stay with an experience rather than immediately trying to explain, change, or move past it?

Sometimes something shifts when we allow ourselves to experience what we've previously avoided, dismissed, or struggled to put into words.

Therapy can become a place not only to understand our lives, but to encounter ourselves in new ways.

What Happens Between Us: The Relational Dimension

I believe the relationship between therapist and patient is central to psychotherapy.

I'm not a detached observer analyzing your life from a distance. I'm an engaged participant in a relationship we're creating together.

What happens between us matters.

We may notice familiar patterns emerging in our interactions. We may experience moments of connection, misunderstanding, frustration, vulnerability, or surprise. These experiences can offer opportunities to explore how you relate to others and how you experience yourself in relationships.

I bring my own humanity to this work. I'm present, responsive, curious, and willing to acknowledge my part in what happens between us.

I believe that being genuinely encountered by another person - and encountering that person in return - can open possibilities that might not emerge through insight alone.

Going Deep, at Your Pace

I'm drawn to depth psychotherapy because I'm interested in what lies beneath the surface of our experiences.

That doesn't mean every session needs to be intense or emotionally profound. Sometimes we need to laugh. Sometimes we need to sit with sadness. Sometimes we need to talk about something seemingly ordinary that turns out to be anything but.

I don't believe there's a predetermined path that therapy should follow, and I don't assume that I know better than you what your life should look like.

I also recognize that our experiences are shaped by the families, communities, cultures, and social systems in which we live. Understanding ourselves means remaining curious about these influences, including the ways power, identity, privilege, and oppression affect our lives and relationships.

My intention is to create a collaborative relationship in which you can explore your experience with increasing honesty, curiosity, and freedom.

What You Can Expect From Me

You can expect me to be present, authentic, compassionate, respectful, and engaged.

I'll listen carefully, ask questions, share observations, and sometimes invite us to explore something that feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar. I'll also bring humor, enthusiasm, and a healthy appreciation for the absurdities of being human.

I don't have a blueprint for who you should become.

What I offer is a willingness to explore with you - to be curious about what's familiar, attentive to what's emerging, and open to possibilities neither of us may have anticipated.

Because sometimes the most meaningful discoveries begin when we realize there's more to ourselves, and to life, than we thought we knew.