My approach

My style of counseling and coaching is supportive, collaborative, and intuitive.

Clients experience me as compassionate, insightful, validating, down-to-earth, and gently wise. Our work together is spiced with healing humor, as I believe this helps us to accept difficult issues and lighten them up in a way that helps them to shift. I help clients access and enhance both internal and external strengths and tools.

If you are looking for someone who is very directive or “in your face,” I am not the gal for you; it’s just not my style. I believe that therapy and coaching work best when both you and your therapist are invested in your growth and healing. My job is to encourage you and gently challenge you to try different ways of thinking and acting, so that you can feel better. Your job is to do your “homework” between sessions (no calculus, I promise).

I work cooperatively with clients, knowing that together, we can “follow the bread crumbs” to greater awareness, understanding, and progress. My goal is to help you feel more empowered in living and leading your life with purpose, passion, and fun.

Our work together may involve inviting your partner or other loved ones to our sessions. This way, what we work on together can be folded into your life in real time. It’s also helpful to get the perspective of the important people in your life in an environment that is safe and supportive.

Does that sound like what you’re looking for? Let’s start with a complimentary 20 minute phone consultation.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

My work is informed by many theories and practices. IFS is the main anchor of how I think about my work and help people.

IFS® is a type of mind-body therapy that works to transform old beliefs and feelings that no longer work for you in your life. You can intellectually know something, but still feel unable to feel or behave differently. IFS works with the different “parts” of you that can hold old, distorted beliefs and pains about life or yourself.

Common unhelpful beliefs are:

• I have to be perfect, work hard, or be “nice” to be lovable or worthy.

• The world is not a safe place for me to be my true self.

• It’s not worth it or safe to get close with someone else.

• If I focus on taking care of myself and what I truly desire in life, I am “selfish.”

• I have to take care of others over taking care of myself.

Using IFS (and all of my other training and experience), I help clients to tap into the energy of calm and unconditional love with which to address these unhelpful thoughts and the pains that are attached to past experiences. This work is respectful and empowering. It helps you to feel more at ease with leading your life from a “big,” grounded place, rather than from parts of you that feel overwhelmed, fed up, exhausted, or hopeless.

Lifespan Integration® (LI)

I combine aspects of LI with IFS. Read more about LI here.