About Me
I’m a therapist with a background in public defense, focused on helping people work through disconnection, identity, doubt, and the impact of what they’ve been through. I spent nearly a decade standing beside people the system had written off. Now I work with a broader group, but the themes are often the same: isolation, hopelessness, and finding your way back.I draw from ACT and psychodynamic approaches to help people reconnect with what actually matters—beneath the noise, confusion, and survival strategies.
I work best with people who are smart, self-aware, and still stuck. People who feel like they’ve done all the “right” things and still feel like something’s off.You don’t have to clean it up for me. You don’t have to be impressive. You just have to show up.
What Therapy With Me Is Like
I’m not a blank slate. I’ll talk. I’ll challenge you. I’ll call out patterns and ask questions that don’t always have tidy answers.I’m not here to fix you, cheerlead you, or analyze from a distance. Therapy with me is relational. That means we pay attention to what’s happening between us—not just what’s happening in your life. We might talk about your childhood, your relationships, your interests, your sex life, even your silences.I work best with people who are tired of performing. People who want to stop curating their experience and start living in it.I bring humor. I bring clarity. I bring presence. If we’re a good match, you’ll feel it. And if we’re not, I’ll help you find someone who is.
Who I Work With
I work with adults and older teens (16+) navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, ADHD, high expectations, and identity confusion.Many of my clients are people who’ve always been the strong one, the smart one, the one who figures it out—and they’re exhausted.
Others come in not knowing exactly what’s wrong—just that something isn’t working.If you’ve got sharp insight, a tangled past, and a tendency to muscle through things instead of asking for help, we’ll probably get along.
Rates & FAQ
Rate: $100 per 50-minute session
If cost is a barrier and we’re a strong fit, we’ll talk about it. I reserve a small number of reduced-fee slots.
Do you take insurance?
No. I’m private pay. That means more freedom, less bureaucracy, and no one else telling me how to work with you. If your insurance has out-of-network benefits, I'm happy to give you the documentation to make a claim.Do you see teens or kids?
Right now, I work with adults and older adolescents—roughly 16 and up. If you’re unsure, reach out and ask.Do you offer virtual sessions?
Yes. All sessions are currently via secure video. If we decide to work together, you’ll get a link before each session—no logins or portals required.What kind of therapy is this, exactly?
I combine Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and psychodynamic work. That means we’ll pay attention to your thoughts, patterns, and values—but we’ll also look at where they came from and why they’re still running.Do I have to talk about my childhood?
Only if it’s part of what’s driving your life now. But honestly? It usually is. You won’t be forced into anything—but we’ll go where the story leads.
You Don’t Need a Perfect Therapist. You Need the Right One.
Most people think therapy works because the therapist gives advice or has special tools. That’s not wrong—but it’s not the full story. Research and experience both show that the single biggest factor in whether therapy helps… is the relationship between therapist and client. More than any treatment modality or theoretical underpinning—the human connection is what makes all the difference.That doesn’t mean the therapist has to be your best friend or tell you what you want to hear. But it does mean you should feel safe, understood, and like your therapist gets what it’s like to be you—even if you don’t have the words for it yet.Your therapist won’t be perfect—I’m certainly not—but they need to make you feel like you can show up exactly as you are. What you’re looking for is someone who listens with empathy and without judgment, who doesn’t try to fix you or push you into some polished version of yourself.When therapy works, it’s not because of clever insights or perfect interpretations—it’s because the relationship itself becomes a place where something shifts.Where you can say the hard thing and still feel safe.
Where you can be honest about your worst moments and be met with compassion and respect.
Where you don’t have to hide.We all have countless preferences and biases—many we aren’t even conscious of. So what this means for you while you’re slogging through Psychology Today profiles is that you should listen to your gut. If someone looks like a person you could sit and be honest with, pursue them. If you know you don’t want to talk with a man, don’t be afraid to only contact women.And it’s okay not to know right away if someone is the right fit. But by the second or third session, you should start to develop a sense—are you consistently feeling shut down, misunderstood, or like you’re performing just to be taken seriously? That’s not therapy. That’s reenactment.Do I feel safe showing up messy? Or like I’m performing a version of myself that feels more acceptable?My job isn’t to give you the “right” answers for your life—only you can know that. My job is to be real, present, and willing to sit with you in the messy stuff. Tools and models matter. But they only work when the relationship can hold what’s coming up.So if you’re considering therapy, don’t just ask what kind of therapy it is. Ask: Can I be honest with this person? Could I bring the worst of myself into the room and still be met with respect and compassion?That’s where the work begins.
The Fastest Way to Feel Better in Therapy Is to Make Yourself Uncomfortable.
Most people come to therapy because they want to feel better. That’s the whole point, after all. But here’s the paradox: the fastest way to actually start feeling better is to do the thing you least want to do.
You have to make yourself uncomfortable.
Not unsafe, not retraumatized—but stretched, porous. That’s where the work happens.Comfort Is a Defense Mechanism
We all have ways of staying safe. Some people joke when they’re about to say something painful. Some intellectualize. Others nod and smile through sessions while keeping their real feelings miles underground.
These are survival strategies we all have that were built over years to keep us intact. They aren’t wrong, but they’re often the enemy of real change.
Therapy only starts to shift things when those defenses get soft enough to let something real through.Discomfort Is a Signal You’re Close to the Truth
Real growth tends to show up with a knot in your stomach. Saying something you’ve never said out loud. Naming an emotion that embarrasses you. Letting yourself cry when you’ve been holding it together for decades.Or—and this is a big one—telling your therapist something you think might upset them. Something that might change how they see you. That’s a scary move, especially for people who’ve spent their whole lives trying to manage others’ reactions.But it’s also one of the clearest ways to know if therapy is actually safe. If the relationship can hold that moment—your honesty, your shame, your fear of being too much or not enough—then something powerful starts to shift.
(See: “You Don’t Need a Perfect Therapist. You Need the Right One.”)You stop performing and start showing up.Safety Comes First—but It Can’t Be the Only Goal
A good therapist will never push you beyond what’s safe. But they also won’t collude with your comfort forever. That’s not therapy. That’s stasis.
You don’t need to feel ready. You just need to feel held enough to take a risk.And yes—discomfort might show up as anger, shame, tears, silence. That’s okay. Bring it into the room. You’re not being “difficult.” You’re doing the work exactly.What This Looks Like in Practice
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs sound simple:“I know I always say I’m fine, but I’m actually falling apart.”
“I felt jealous when I saw someone else leaving your office smiling.”
“I didn’t want to tell you this because I thought you’d judge me.”These moments often come with fear. But when your therapist meets you with compassion instead of critique, the fear starts to lose its grip. And your body learns—viscerally, not just intellectually—that you can be honest and still be okay.The Bottom Line
The goal isn’t to perform therapy well. It’s to be real inside of it.
The fastest way to feel better is to stop trying to feel better and start being more honest, even when it’s uncomfortable. Especially when it’s uncomfortable.If your therapist can meet you with acceptance and show you that the world didn’t collapse when you thought it would, you’re already on the path to change.