ABOUT ME

What I love about my work is helping my clients to fully understand the complexity of their emotions. This allows them to see the purpose of their feelings and can help to release some judgement and pressure to “get rid of the feelings.” With this understanding, creativity expands and ways to manage these difficult feelings becomes much more available. I enjoy guiding this process to unfold and witnessing the resulting increase in self compassion, and reduction in shame that naturally occurs. This is the process of “innerwork.”

Like you, over the course of my life I have experienced my own ups and downs and have learned to live with my own set of challenging feelings. I am very grateful to have learned to do the inner work of looking more curiously and deeply at my feelings, trying to understand their roots, and how I might work with these feelings rather than against them. This more curious perspective has paved the way for a deeper understanding of emotions, in general, and the important role they play in our lives. It is heartwarming to know that with the right support, challenging feelings can become softer and even regarded as meaningful parts of who we are. I invite you to learn these profound skills so that you can live with more moments of self compassion and emotional well being.

MY APPROACH

With guided support, and at your pace, I will help you to take a look at the thoughts and feelings that are at the root of your challenges and will help you to understand yourself, your inner world and your emotions in ways that provide greater emotional well being. With this understanding I hope to help you find the reassurance, relief, and answers that you have been looking for to help you cope better and with more ease.

I work within a variety of evidence-based models of therapy including internal family systems, emotionally-focused therapy, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral therapy, as I work within a trauma-informed framework. These therapies have been proven to provide better outcomes for the issues that bring you to therapy. Because not all therapies are right for all people, I am collaborative in my approach and will work with you to find the best way to manage the issues that you present. And while I may use a combination of approaches, I am trained in the Internal Family Systems model and find that this is a very important tool to help clients gain valuable insights into their emotions and behaviors. A main goal of our work will focus on helping you to incorporate a more self compassionate perspective as there is much research on the field of self compassion and how this very simple practice can radically change your outlook and mood. I look forward to helping you to navigate the difficulties you are facing with care and compassion.

Experience

I began my work as a mental health clinician in a community outpatient setting in 2006 when I worked with children and families, many of whom had traumatic backgrounds. This was rewarding and challenging work and it provided me with the clinical skills to treat anxiety, depression and trauma. Shortly after, I took some time away from work to enjoy time with my own children before opening my private practice in 2014. I started Playworks Therapy for Children where I specialized in play therapy for young children.

When the Pandemic unfolded in 2020, I changed my direction as I found it difficult to do traditional play therapy virtually. It seemed natural to begin working with the parents and caregivers of the children with whom I had already been working. I began offering individual therapy to help these parents and caregivers to strengthen their skills as they learned to better understand, regulate and process their own emotions, past histories, and traumas. 

I continued to grow my practice further and created Innerworks Psychotherapy to provide individual therapy to adults of all ages. I enjoy helping clients to do the inner work of understanding their complex feelings in order to get to the root of their difficulties, as this seems to offer the greatest clarity and opportunity for emotional well being.

Private practice has been very gratifying and a source of meaningful work for me. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Connecticut, I have maintained my full time practice for more than 10 years. I earned my Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work in 2005. Please contact me for more information or to schedule an appointment.