Areas of Clinical Focus
Somatic Experiencing Therapy
Somatic Experiencing, also known as SE, is a holistic and effective form of therapy that addresses the physical and emotional effects of traumatic events. SE is built on the principle that trauma is stored not only in the mind, but also in the body and nervous system. SE therapy aims to help individuals release the physical and emotional tension caused by traumatic events, allowing them to move on from their past experiences and improve their overall well-being. Traumas can be specific events, such as assaults or car crashes, or more prolonged and complex, such as emotional abuse, neglect, or gaslighting. Trauma can cause individuals to repress or dissociate from painful experiences, leading to emotional numbness, depression, or avoidance behaviors. SE therapy helps individuals to safely access and process traumatic memories, allowing them to integrate their experiences and find a sense of closure.
SE also helps individuals to improve their physical and emotional regulation. Trauma can cause individuals to develop chronic stress responses, such as hypervigilance or hyperarousal, anxiety, and emotional shutdown, which can negatively impact their daily lives and manifest in unsustainable ways of coping. SE therapy helps individuals to learn how to manage their physical and emotional responses to stress, allowing them to improve their resilience and overall well-being.
SE therapy is a gentle, effective, and empowering approach to healing the effects of trauma, and it provides a way for individuals to connect with their body and develop a sense of self-awareness, self-regulation and self-compassion.
Mental health concerns
Trauma / PTSD
Anxiety
Depression
Specific phobias
Grief
Stress Responses
Emotional numbness/shutdown
Difficulty with rest/relaxation
Non-medically explained pain
Post-traumatic responses to discrete events (car accidents, medical procedures, injuries, et al)
Unsustainable Coping
Numbing responses: food, substances, internet, exercise
Workaholism
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) & Healthcare Workers
“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.” - Richard Feynman
Originally from a STEM background and now a healthcare professional, I have come to appreciate the unique struggles of people who work in these fields. High achieving professionals in fields related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and healthcare often have their internal struggles invalidated by others’ perceptions of their success and their own harsh internalized narratives. So much of high achievement comes with unwritten rules: on how to think, how to show up in the world, how to feel, how to be. People can become run by managerial parts of themselves which are well meaning and survival oriented, but which become overburdened and rigid over time. Commonly, individuals can reach heights of external success while feeling lost and confused internally. Other times, disappointments can trigger deep panic and existential issues.
One of the strengths of STEM and healthcare professionals is their ability to think critically and solve problems. They are trained to approach problems systematically and with a scientific mindset, which allows them to develop creative and effective solutions. They can think powerfully in abstract and complex ways, which is essential for developing new technologies, conducting scientific research, and providing excellent care for patients. The intellect of these professionals is a profound strength and can also contribute to difficulties when it overrides their underlying emotional needs. Approaching challenges of the mind/body requires intuition, creativity, a respect for emotions, a more holistic perspective, and a healthy stance of “not knowing.”
I have experienced people in these fields as naturally curious about the world and the human experience. I admire these individuals’ desire to push the possibilities of what is possible, and I share this stance when it comes to healing. Our work is to help you harness these strengths to ask the big questions about how your patterns protect you, and what is needed to lead your life from a place of presence, connectedness, and even playfulness.
Mental health concerns
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma / PTSD
Grief
Identity Exploration
Finding meaning in career
Career changes
Defining success
Major life transitions
Navigating cultural identity at work
Existential issues
Work Related Issues
Work life balance
Workaholism
Managing demanding professions
Graduate training/education
Relationship with money
Perfectionism
Children of Immigrants and People of Color
“What has become apparent to me is that home is a space that we must cultivate ourselves, deliberately and intentionally.” - Dr. Jenny Wang in Permission to Come Home
Both children of immigrants and people of color (POC) tend to be intimately familiar with living from a survival based orientation. They frequently must face tradeoffs between authenticity and acceptance in social, educational, and professional contexts. They must grapple with generational struggles, including cultural gaps, language barriers, and intergenerational trauma. They often have to be leaders in their family lives while experiencing slights and double standards in the external world. Our work in therapy is to compassionately explore how your cultural identity has impacted you in major areas of life, and to renegotiate so that you can move out of survival mode into a place of presence, courage, and vitality. Many are also motivated by the desire not to pass on struggles to the next generation. This work may involve processing trauma and family of origin wounds, exploring values you aspire to embody, tapping into suppressed emotions such as rage and grief, navigating present day relationships, and more. To add to what Dr. Jenny Wang has said, I believe that home must not only be deliberately and intentionally cultivated not only by ourselves but also within ourselves.
Mental health concerns
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma / PTSD
Grief
Relationship dynamics
Family of origin work
Navigating present day relationships
Navigating cultural/generational gaps
Identity Exploration
Relationship with mother culture
Relationship with race/ethnicity
Navigating cultural identity at school/work
Career
Specific Trauma Work
Intergenerational trauma
Racial Trauma
Insomnia Psychotherapy (CBT-I)
Quality sleep is a foundational to overall health and well-being, impacting every aspect of physical, mental, and emotional functioning. In an ever more demanding modern environment marked by constant connectivity and multiple competing demands for your time, sleep often suffers. It becomes nearly impossible to be present in daily life - let alone achieve your life goals - with chronic insomnia.
I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), which is an evidenced based, structured, but still flexible protocol specifically designed to help individuals improve sleep quality and also quantity. The first part of the process will be an assessment for whether you have insomnia or another sleep related disorder, and if indeed insomnia, we would proceed with a time-limited 5-10 session protocol that covers psychoeducation about insomnia and sleep, developing tracking tools to self-monitor sleep/wake patterns, and then implementing both cognitive behavioral interventions to improve sleep efficiency and sleep quantity. In addition to cognitive and behavioral tools from the CBT-I framework, I integrate my background in mindfulness and Somatic Experiencing in order to give you a more robust set of tools for awareness of bodily states (e.g. tired vs. sleepy) as well as relaxation and stress reduction approaches which promote falling or returning to sleep after middle of the night wake-ups.
Relative to traditional psychotherapy, CBT-I is more:
Time-limited - there is a limit to the number of sessions.
Behaviorally focused - much of the session time is spent on daily activities and actions and there is less focus on emotional processing, although there is still a degree of it.
Directive - I will make specific suggestions and recommendations, but the work is always a collaboration between client and therapist.
Technology assisted - We will use computer and/or phone based tools to track and measure sleep metrics.
Occasionally, clients who have a need might transition into longer-term clients and continue to work with me on other areas in psychotherapy.