Since 2006, I've been helping adults, adolescents, and children with myriad challenges, including depression, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, behavioral challenges, stress reduction, mood stabilization, crisis intervention, grief and loss, relationship problems, sleep problems, and resolving feelings and experiences from the past. In addition to seeing clients in my private practice, I have also worked in the Department of Psychiatry outpatient clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics since 2011.
I was inspired to become a psychotherapist by my background growing up in poverty, and being raised by a single mother struggling with mental illness. I am a compassionate, empathetic, and creative problem solver with a practical, holistic approach that is tailored to meet each individual's needs.
My training has shown me that physical symptoms can be one of the keys to understanding ourselves. And attending to those physical sensations can release us from the stuck patterns that lie in depression, anxiety, trauma, hurts from the past, and other mental health issues. Physical sensations in the body have meaning and can be our guide to fulfilling our needs and to solving our problems. When we notice and attend to our responses to situations, we are better informed to make decisions about our lives. Positive change happens when our minds and bodies are connected.
In order to affect deep change, I integrate a variety of approaches, including traditional Interpersonal talk therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), somatic psychotherapy, meditation, mindfulness, guided imagery, health and nutrition advice, and hypnosis, to name a few. For children and adolescents, my approach employs play therapies, using sand tray therapy, art therapy, Theraplay, as well as parent training interventions. In our work together, you'll come away with practical, applicable strategies and tools that you can use in your everyday life.