About My Clients
I tend to work with adults, aged anywhere from early 20's to 40's, navigating a range of difficulties such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, interpersonal problems, and emotional dysregulation. I also specialize in working with people who are generally doing well in life and experiencing successful but still feel unfulfilled with the focus on determining what types of problems may be underlying this discrepancy in life.
My Background and Approach
I am a licensed clinical psychologist in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Toledo where I was able to learn psychotherapeutic techniques from multiple types of theoretical orientations (Psychodynamic, Cognitive-Behavioral, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Humanistic Psychology), which I find to be especially important to long term change and living life in line with ones values in addition to provide more immediate relief from stress, anxiety, and depression. I believe the goal of healing goes beyond symptom reduction but to actually changing the internal occurring within the mind, which may often be outside of awareness or unconscious, so the core facet of any symptoms or interpersonal problems are healed in a way that leads to not needing to rely on coping skills. One way to view this would be to consider a new version of the self or a "new me" forming through the work of therapy with the goal of living life more in line with values.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I am a strong believer in the role of building awareness around what is occurring internally within the mind that leads to making choices outside of one's values that tend to lead to feelings of anxiety or depression. While I tend to incorporate the development of a range of coping skills, primarily centered on mindfulness practices, I belief these are most useful to decrease the severity of problems in the short term while continuing to work through the way past experiences have led to problematic ways of regulating emotions, viewing the self, or developing relationships. This approach tends to lead to feeling relief earlier on in therapy via coping skills and then diving into the core issues that caused the difficulties in the first place so coping skills don't need to be relied on forever. I also teach at a local university and have a commitment to staying up to date with the latest research and developments in the areas of how therapy can be most beneficial to clients.