Services
About My Clients
Are you fed up with feeling anxious? Maybe your life looks good from the outside, but inside you're overwhelmed and on edge. Your mind is spinning about everything you need to accomplish or about events that may happen in the future. You're always worried. The anxiety feels like tightness in your chest, a tense jaw, and your body feels constricted all the time. You have persistent thoughts that bully you, tell you you're not good enough, and you can't get relief from this mental chatter.
My Background and Approach
I strive to utilize the best research evidence to address your unique and specific needs. I draw upon Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), meditation practices, Internal Family Systems (IFS), as well as somatic techniques to address the connection between the body and mind. What always underlies my work is warmth, compassion and acceptance. I help my clients to foster self-compassion, to shift away from beliefs about being deficient or broken. I help people to see their inherent goodness. I have trained since 2005 at several local Santa Barbara agencies, non-profits, a university counseling center, and in the private practice setting. Since 2016, I've been licensed and practicing independently. I have specialties in parent-infant mental health, child development, and the college/university population.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
If you are living from your thoughts or you identify as the voice in your head, you are likely in some degree of distress. Our thoughts tend to be distorted and unhelpful. Through strategies we'll practice together, you can start to bring non-judgmental awareness to thoughts and shift away rather than be hooked by them. We will also address emotions together. People generally want to be content but tend to have difficulty tolerating other emotional states. Stress and worry can feel unbearable. Sadness feels like a heavy blanket that you have to fight off. The resistance of normal, human fluctuation in mood often makes things worse. You may distract yourself by maintaining a frenetic pace at work, using alcohol to numb emotional pain, or exercising excessively. We will practice presence, using the breath and body as the focus of attention. As thoughts arise (they always do), you can lose interest in the story you’re telling yourself. Any sensations in the body are “invited in.”