About

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia with over 25 years of experience providing outpatient counseling to a variety of age groups, including adults and couples. I have extensive experience and skill working with a wide array of concerns, including anxiety/worry, mood disorders, trauma, stress-related issues, interpersonal and relationship concerns, school/job distress, adjustment issues, behavioral issues, and attachment concerns, to name a few.

I believe being able to develop a sound therapeutic relationship is fundamental. It is important that there is a sense of trust, safety, respect, acceptance, and honesty when sharing one’s story, challenging stuck points, and moving forward in growth. Working together is the only way to create real and lasting change. While I frequently utilize a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) approach in helping clients recognize the impact of thoughts on feelings and behaviors and how to challenge and change unhelpful and untrue core beliefs, I also like to use a variety of concepts from dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness, reality therapy (RT), motivational interviewing (MI), and strengths-based approaches. I also believe it is important to acknowledge and attend to emotions, learning the ability to tolerate and soothe distressing emotions in the moment to calm distressing thoughts and to build a healthy sense of internal validation.

Therapy is a collaborative effort. The process can be challenging and also rewarding. I look forward to working with you!