Specialties

AKA the types of clients and concerns for which I have developed the most experience, training, skills, and scope

Body image
Disordered eating
Relationship with food
Binge eating
Emotional eating
Diet recovery
Self-compassion work
Shame
Perfectionism
People-pleasing
Intellectualizing
Anxiety
Trauma
Burnout
Stress
Life transitions
Highly sensitive people (HSPs)

I like to sum it up by saying I support folks in healing their relationships with
food, body, and self.

Let's dig a little into each, while acknowledging - these relationships are intertwined!

If you see yourself in any of the below, I may be able to help.

Therapy for your relationship with food

Does any of the below sound like you?

Rules about food take up a lot of space in your brain, making every decision about what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat feel exhausting.
You sometimes feel out of control with food, eating much more than you intended, eating without awareness/presence, or eating past the point of uncomfortable fullness.
Maybe you feel you have to avoid certain foods entirely due to feeling out of control around them. You've decided you just can't keep them in the house, or you avoid the places that serve them.
You are turning to food as a coping skill more than you would like. Maybe you are ending nearly every stressful day using food to soothe, numb out, or comfort yourself.
You are constantly researching the latest diets, tricks, and "hacks" to lose weight, eat less but stay full, get the "right" macronutrients, etc. You're tired of the contradictions and sick of trying to stay up to date.
In fact, maybe you've noticed you're riding the roller coaster of the diet cycle. First, there is the excitement and hope that this diet may be just the thing. Eventually, you hit some sort of wall. The rules are too hard to follow, you have no energy, or you just plain miss eating what you want to eat. Finally, you "fall off the wagon" and are full of shame and blame for yourself. Eventually, you decide to try again, and the cycle starts back up. Maybe you're finally sick of it, but you're scared to let go of something that's had so much influence on your life for so long.
You are anxious and inflexible when things come up that affect your food plan. You panic when a co-worker asks you to lunch, because you had packed something specific. You can't focus once a class is running long because you needed to eat your dinner by a certain time.
You're thinking your relationship with exercise may be unhealthy, whether it is because you are only working out so that you are "allowed" to eat a certain way, you're exercising out of guilt or disgust for yourself rather than for stress relief or joy, or you're struggling to take days off or adapt to your needs.

I have worked with many folks who struggle with their relationship with food in various levels of care across the years. I've had opportunities to especially develop my skills in supporting with binge eating, emotional eating, and diet recovery.

It would be my honor to support you in finding a flexible, sustainable relationship with food.

We are born intuitive eaters, but individual and cultural experiences cause us to begin questioning our bodies and our needs. One thing that affects us all: diet culture sucks, tells you lies, and functions to keep you trapped inside of it. It's near impossible to live within our culture and escape its harm. And yet, we end up blaming ourselves rather than examining the toxic culture.

Part of therapy with me will involve getting curious about your experiences with food and gaining insight about what has impacted your relationship with it. Binge eating, emotional eating, dieting, and other food-related behaviors have all functioned to meet a need for you. We'll honor these needs and your ability to have coped with everything you've faced. We'll also see if we can expand your toolbox of ways to meet your needs. We'll work towards granting you that space in your brain and your life back, and building safety, trust, and freedom with food.

Therapy for your relationship with your body

Does any of the below resonate with you?

You're resentful towards your body for not fitting some standard. This may be an appearance-based standard, ability-based, or something else. Either way, you're frustrated with your body, for not being the way you think it should be.
You notice yourself frequently comparing your body to others' bodies, typically unfavorably, but sometimes not. Maybe you automatically and unintentionally begin ranking bodies when you enter a room. You don't love this tendency in yourself, but it just happens and you don't know how to make it stop.
You're worried what your body "says" about you. You are anxious that others will think you are lazy, unhealthy, or unattractive. Maybe you dress, style your hair, or move your body in a certain way specifically to appear more polished or put together, even if it's not how you'd choose to do it otherwise.
You hold yourself back from certain things because of your body or your appearance. Maybe you avoid things like dating, speaking up in meetings, or traveling due to discomfort about being perceived. You are uncomfortable taking up space in all ways.
You have a complicated relationship with the mirror. Maybe you are looking at it more than you would like, analyzing everything you see, comparing day to day for any changes. Maybe you avoid it entirely, because looking for too long can derail your mood or your day. You may have similar experiences with being in photos too. Either way, you are tired of it having such an effect on you.
You are weighing yourself frequently, and the results impact your mood and decision-making for that day, or beyond.
Clothes are a challenge. Getting dressed may be an ordeal. Maybe you are struggling with needing a new size. Maybe you hold onto clothes from your past, hoping you will fit into them again. Maybe there are certain styles that you would love to wear, but you tell yourself that something about your body makes it not okay to dress the way you want.
Maybe you're overly aware and self-conscious of the ways your body looks, moves, or takes up space.
Or maybe it's the opposite - you completely avoid acknowledging how it feels to be in your body. You feel almost like a floating head walking through this world. Guided meditations? No thanks, uncomfortable. Yoga? Not a chance. A therapist asking you where you feel that in your body? NIGHTMARE.

We become detached from or distressed with our bodies for so many reasons. You were born with a keen awareness of your body and its needs, but the lines of communication get tangled or even severed while living in this culture. Your body may have become a scapegoat for things you have experienced in your life. Your body may feel like an uncomfortable or even unsafe place to occupy.

In therapy with me, we can work together on reclaiming the trust in your body you were born with. I have special training in this area as a Certified Body Trust® Provider. We will get curious about your body story and gathering insight about how you lost trust with your body. We'll identify the beliefs you've gathered about bodies and whether they actually feel true to you, or more like something that was placed upon you. When you're ready, we can endeavor together to build more comfort being in your body, listening to its communications, and learning from its wisdom.

Therapy for your relationship with yourself

Does anything below sound like you?

You know you have perfectionist stuff going on, or you suspect you might, and you're exhausted. You're sick of the time you spend trying to do things exactly right, or just avoiding things if you think you might not be able to. You're tired of the grind and of feeling you have to earn things through what you produce, but you're also scared to stop achieving.
You struggle to cut yourself slack or give yourself breaks. If you notice human needs showing up (to rest, to pause, to process), you become irritated and push them to the side. You're burnt out as hell, and you know deep down that you can't function this way forever, but you are functioning (for now).
You're not comfortable with some or all emotions that show up, such as anger or sadness. Maybe they feel unsafe, or like a distraction, and your automatic response is to ignore or avoid.
Or maybe you feel like a slave to your emotions, like anxiety and stress are running the show, and all you can do is hold on for dear life.
You think you might have people-pleasing tendencies. You notice yourself putting your needs aside for others', struggling to say no, taking responsibility for others' emotions, or appeasing others just to avoid conflict. There's a small voice inside of you that's telling you to stand up for yourself, but you're struggling with how to listen to it.
You've noticed your inner critic is LOUD and shows up at the drop of a hat. It's like there's some mean person living in your head, calling you names when you mess up and wondering why you even bother trying. Sometimes you avoid doing things just to avoid hearing that voice.
You recognize you have some deep-seated negative or cruel beliefs about yourself. You don't feel you deserve good things. You feel like you don't matter. You think you should take up less space. You are inherently bad or unworthy. Maybe some of these beliefs arose after experiencing trauma(s). Maybe you were told these things were true. Either way, it hurts like hell.

Your relationship with yourself is the only one you're guaranteed to have for your whole life. Isn't it worth investing in making the relationship as healthy and functional as possible?

There are so many things that impact your relationship with yourself. In therapy, we'll work together to understand what aspects of your relationship are strong, and where the relationship could use some improvement. Depending on what we discover, therapy will be tailored to your needs. It may look like befriending and understanding your perfectionism or people-pleasing, identifying when that part of you is helpful and necessary, and when it could maybe take a break. It may look like getting more in touch with your emotions and relating to them differently. It may look like processing trauma, perhaps using ART. It may look like accepting your needs and building comfort with ways to meet them. It may look like breaking old patterns within the context of therapeutic safety and support. It will most likely include identifying your values and aligning yourself with them. It will also most likely include building your self-compassion and self-trust. Ultimately, we will work together to help you feel empowered in your own life.