Specialties

Therapy For Anxiety

Anxiety is an ordinary experience in human life.

You can feel anxious before taking the next step or being more vulnerable with others for the first time.

Anxiety can be the fear and uncertainty of what’s to come or how you will be perceived. It is often coupled with excitement when having new experiences. Being able to manage those feelings allows us to grow, meet our goals, and contribute to overall happiness and well being. 

However, anxiety can become problematic when it feels pervasive, overwhelming, or when you do everything in your power to avoid feeling that discomfort.

You might find yourself:

  • Avoiding situations that feel uncomfortable

  • Feeling stuck in your career or romantic life

  • Struggling to move forward with plans for the future

  • Unsure why you feel stuck when you know what you want

Looking Beneath The Anxiety

Rather than simply trying to manage anxious thoughts or behaviors, we can explore what is underneath the anxiety—the thoughts and emotions driving the experience. 

For example, you might notice the feeling of anxiety and recognize that when you feel anxious in these particular situations it is linked to feelings of frustration that are difficult to experience and think about. You might be afraid to assert yourself or say no out of fears of being disliked. With these insights, you have the ability to manage those feelings and think about them, which informs how you proceed in your day to day life. 

Therapy For Depression

Life brings inevitable change, grief, and loss. We can experience sadness during transitions we have wanted, such as starting a new job or separating from someone we love when we are unsure of the next time that we will see them. 

Mourning and loss are connected to these everyday experiences in our lives. We are constantly faced with what is being given up as we grow and develop, not knowing if what we hoped for will be gained in this next step of our lives. 

When mourning, loss, or sadness feels too great, it can become difficult to move forward. You might be:

  • Feeling depressed, stuck, or unable to move forward

  • Avoiding or distracting yourself from difficult feelings without realizing it

  • Rushing toward the next thing rather than taking time to process what you’ve experienced

  • Experiencing emotional or physical effects that you don’t fully understand

When you can allow yourself to experience all the varied thoughts and feelings connected to a loss, you can take in the fullness of your experience and relationships, which allows you to learn, stay grounded in the present, and be more confident as you move forward in your life.

Therapy For Relationships

Whether we like it or not, our sense of relationships are shaped from our very early experiences in life. 

As part of my psychoanalytic training, I completed a two year observational studies program, where I observed an infant in the context of a family home. From this experience, I watched how an infant begins to develop their sense of self from caregivers being trusting, reliable, and curious about their emotional life. With this foundation, an infant will flourish, grow, and develop into a confident toddler, who will have a hunger to explore their surroundings and seek connection with others. 

How we connect with others and the world is tied to these early experiences we have in life. They inform our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and what we expect from others and the world around us. 

Whether we are aware of it, we are drawn to romantic partners who are familiar with these early relationships.

This is not necessarily problematic, as we are naturally drawn to what feels familiar and comfortable. The hope is that, after grieving what was harmful or unhelpful, you will be drawn to the good parts of these early relationships. 

If you feel the pain and confusion getting in the way of building and enjoying deeper connections, it might be time to look into your past and see how that is affecting how you view yourself and others. This perspective you have of those around you impacts your ability to be vulnerable and your capacity for connection.

The therapeutic relationship provides an invaluable tool for understanding ways you are connecting that go outside of your awareness. 

With greater insight and understanding, you will have the capacity to think about whether you are seeing another person through the lens of the past or seeing them as they are in the present, which allows you to take in new experiences and foster hope for the capacity of finding more of what you are looking for in intimate relationships.