My Approach
Understanding the approach can help you feel safer as we begin. Here's how I work and why.
I integrate multiple therapeutic approaches to create what I think of as a warm, flexible, experiential ecosystem for healing. No single approach has all the answers, but together they offer a rich, multidimensional way of working with the full complexity of being human.
Below, I'll explain each approach in plain language, connecting it to what you might actually experience in sessions.
Psychodynamic Therapy
What it is
Psychodynamic therapy is about understanding the patterns that shape your inner and relational life. It's based on the idea that much of what drives us our fears, desires, defenses, and ways of relating operates outside conscious awareness.
What it looks like in sessions
We listen for themes that repeat: the stories you tell about yourself, the patterns in your relationships, the ways you protect yourself that might also be limiting you. We explore how your past especially early relational experiences continues to shape your present.
This isn't about blaming your childhood or staying stuck in the past. It's about making the unconscious conscious so you have more freedom to choose how you want to be.
Why it matters
Insight is powerful. When you understand why you do what you do, shame often lifts. You can start to see yourself with compassion and curiosity instead of judgment. And that's often where real change begins.
Somatic Experiencing & Polyvagal-Informed Work
What it is
Somatic experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to healing trauma and stress. It's grounded in the understanding that trauma lives in the nervous system as incomplete survival responses. Polyvagal theory helps us understand how our nervous system shifts between states of safety, activation (fight/flight), and shutdown (freeze/collapse).
What it looks like in sessions
We pay close attention to your body: the sensations you feel, how your breath changes, where you hold tension, moments of ease or constriction. Instead of just talking about your experience, we track it as it happens in real time.
You might notice I'll pause and ask: "What are you noticing in your body right now?" or "Where do you feel that?" We work slowly, helping your nervous system complete responses that got stuck allowing energy to discharge, letting your system return to regulation.
Why it matters
Talk therapy alone often isn't enough for trauma, anxiety, or chronic stress. Your body needs to learn, at a physiological level, that it's safe to relax. SE and polyvagal work provide the tools to help your nervous system update its threat responses and build resilience.
Focusing-Oriented Therapy
What it is
Focusing is a practice of attending to the "felt sense" the subtle, often unclear bodily knowing that arises when we turn our awareness inward. It's about listening to what's on the edge of awareness, what wants to emerge but doesn't yet have words.
What it looks like in sessions
Instead of rushing to analyze or fix, we slow down and create space for something to unfold. You might sense into a vague feeling "There's something heavy in my chest, but I'm not sure what it is" and we stay with it, curious and patient, until meaning emerges organically.
This isn't about forcing insight. It's about trusting that your body knows things your mind hasn't caught up to yet. When we listen deeply, transformation happens from the inside out.
Why it matters
Focusing honors the wisdom of your whole being, not just your thinking mind. It's particularly powerful for working with what feels stuck, unclear, or too complex to articulate. It invites a gentler, more organic process of change.
Existential & Transpersonal Influences
What it is
Existential therapy engages with the fundamental questions of human existence: meaning, freedom, death, isolation, and responsibility. Transpersonal psychology acknowledges the spiritual dimensions of life experiences of connection to something larger, questions of purpose, and the possibility of transcendence.
What it looks like in sessions
We don't shy away from the big questions. If you're grappling with the meaning of your life, the reality of death, or spiritual experiences that don't fit conventional frameworks, we make space for that. I approach these questions with respect, never imposing beliefs but always curious about what's true for you.
Why it matters
Humans are meaning-making beings. When we ignore existential and spiritual dimensions, we miss a crucial part of what makes us whole. Honoring these questions isn't airy or impractical it's often the most grounding work we can do.
How body, mind, and spirit meet in this work
These approaches aren't separate compartments they weave together naturally. In any given session, we might work somatically with a sensation in your body, explore the psychodynamic meaning of a relationship pattern, and touch existential questions about what you're being called toward.
The integration happens organically based on what you bring and what the moment calls for. Sometimes we need the body. Sometimes we need insight. Sometimes we need to sit with mystery. I follow what serves you, not a predetermined script.
"The goal isn't to apply techniques to you. It's to create conditions where your own healing intelligence can emerge and do what it knows how to do."
What you can expect from me
- •Genuine presence and attention
- •Flexibility and responsiveness to what you need
- •Honesty, even when it's uncomfortable
- •Respect for your pace and your process
- •Challenge when it serves your growth
- •Confidentiality and ethical practice
- •Belief in your capacity to heal
What I invite from you
- •Honesty about your experience, even when it's messy
- •Curiosity about your inner life
- •Willingness to try things that feel unfamiliar
- •Patience with the pace of change
- •Courage to face what's difficult
- •Compassion for yourself in the process
- •Commitment to showing up, even when it's hard
None of this has to be perfect. We're all learning as we go.
Does this approach resonate?
If this way of working feels aligned with what you're seeking, let's explore whether we're a good fit. We'll start with a 50-minute consultation.