Our Services
Addiction Therapy
I approach addiction with nonjudgement, understanding, and love. There is still a stigma attached to addiction, and it is my mission to unravel it. I do not believe that addiction is a choice, but rather a progressive disease which becomes an undeniably compelling coping mechanism. Most people struggling with addiction can remember the first time they got drunk or high, the way it quieted the mental chatter, the way it gave them confidence they didn’t have before, the way it took away anxiety, or the way it just made them feel better. Who wouldn’t want to keep feeling this way? The problem is that people who have an underlying addiction will need more and more of a substance to feel this way. External and/or emotional consequences might start adding up, and life might start to feel unmanageable.
If this sounds like you, there is a way out! I will work with you to understand your addiction, how it has served you, how it might not be serving you anymore, and to help you find ways to cope with life other than substances. When you have an addiction it can feel like life is impossible without substances, but addiction negatively affects our perspective, isolates us, and keeps us from having real connections.
I’m a Clinical Director at an addiction facility and started my private practice, Talk2Taz in 2021. I have a passion for helping people through this insidious disease. I can help you build yourself back up and figure out ways to make life feel not only manageable, but full of hope.
Eating Disorders
I have been working with clients struggling with eating disorders since 2013. Eating disorders are a coping mechanism, and they often start young and embed themselves in people’s psyches very early on. Clients often struggle to differentiate between their eating disorders and their true selves, as they feel like one and the same. I believe eating disorders develop to protect people from pain but over time become harmful, even lethal. The obsessions with the body, weight, and food intensify which can make life feel unmanageable. But the idea of letting go of the eating disorder can feel much more daunting than living with it—it might even feel impossible.
It takes time, but I believe it is possible to let go of eating disorders. I will take the time to understand what the eating disorder has been protecting you from, foster support and resilience, help you learn to differentiate between the eating disorder and your true self, and guide you towards a life led by you and not your eating disorder.
PTSD & Trauma
When people think of trauma, they often think of the big ones - child abuse, rape, car accidents, death. When I ask clients if they’ve experienced trauma they often say no at first, but it becomes clear as I get to know them that they definitely have experienced trauma. Trauma can look very different to different people. I think of trauma as a time when our needs, whether emotional or physical, were not met in a way that felt significant and this created a wound that has not yet been resolved. Since the wound was not resolved, part of the person is stuck at the age that the trauma happened. In adulthood this can look like us reacting to situations in a way we don’t fully understand; maybe getting angry or anxious, shutting down, or dissociating when it doesn’t make sense given the scenario.
We all have them, these stuck points. They are normal, but they can be very frustrating and even debilitating. Using Accelerated Resolution Therapy, I can help you discover how your trauma is showing up, trace it back to its origin, and erase any distressing images or feelings that are keeping you stuck in the trauma. We can’t get rid of the facts, but we desensitize you from the worst parts of the memories and replace them with more positive images and feelings so you can feel relief and freedom.
Anxiety & Depression
Having anxiety and depression can make us feel like we are just missing our lives; we are either ruminating about what’s wrong or worrying about what might go wrong. These issues are all-consuming, burdensome, and exhausting. But our anxiety and depression are not our enemies, even though it might feel like it, and they can be improved.
Through dedicated work, I have witnessed clients transform their mental states. In a loving and nonjudgmental environment, we will learn to cultivate a curious awareness of our thoughts and feelings, learn to be present with them without reacting automatically to them, and choose how to respond in a way that aligns with our values. Anxiety and depression do not need to keep you from living the life you want!
Family & Couples
Relationships are difficult. Whenever clients come to me for family or couples therapy, they often feel like they have these huge disconnects and that they need to make sweeping changes. More often than not, I’ve found that it takes small shifts in perspective and behavior that lead to big improvements.
When we are having problems in a relationship, typically each person has their own idea of what the issue is and it is hard to zoom out and see the big picture. That’s where I come in! I love getting to a couple or a family and finding the common goals and values that connect the individuals to each other as well as bringing out their strengths to help them grow and cultivate deeper, more meaningful relationships.
Self-Esteem
I love all my clients, I really do. For me, the best part of being a therapist is getting to know my clients on a deep level, understanding them in their entirety, and working with them so that one day they might see themselves as I see them: extraordinary. I believe everyone has such strength and beauty, but because of our trauma, the messages we received growing up, the things we’ve internalized and stories we tell ourselves, we tend to not see ourselves clearly.
I want to help you see yourself clearly. I believe the work required to do that is beyond worth it. We can go at your pace, we can start to understand and navigate the narratives you’ve been holding onto that no longer serve you, and we can start to rewrite them. I don’t think it’s about shutting the door on the past; I think it’s about uncovering our core beliefs and related behaviors that protected us in the past, but are holding us back in the present. We will decide together what you want to let go of in order to be free, and to begin the journey towards self-acceptance and self-love.