MY APPROACH

I believe meaningful change starts with understanding. First, I like to understand each client's unique experience and second, partnering with that client to deeply understand their difficulties. From there, I believe that changing our behaviors, how we do something, can fundamentally change the way we also feel and think about ourselves, others, and the situations we find ourselves navigating day to day. Drawing upon my diverse experiences providing mental health treatment in a variety of settings, I strive to treat every client as an individual, while using the most science-backed and evidence-based approaches to help them achieve wellness as soon as possible. I lean heavily on collaboration with my clients and the joining of two experts coming together for a common goal of recovery. I work toward establishing a relationship based in warmth, trust, and safety in order to work together to harness the science-backed power of behavior therapy to help my clients achieve the change they desire.

If you are ready to work, ready to start changing the thoughts and habits that might be holding you back, then I am here to dive in with you. And if you're not totally ready, let's see if we can get you there together. My favorite part about cognitive and behavioral therapies, especially exposure therapies, is that we get to work actively together. We won't just sit back and talk about your problems for months on end - who has the time or money for that? We're going to DO something about what is causing you suffering, and we will do it as a team every step of the way.

MY EXPERIENCE 

• Previous experience as an intern therapist at Corpus Christi Medical Center Bayview, working in an inpatient setting serving individuals with high mental health needs.

• Previous experience as a primary therapist at Charlie Health - Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), serving individuals with suicidal thoughts, self-harm behaviors, and OCD. 

• Experienced Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provider, including specializations in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). 

• Treated teens and adults for a variety of mental health issues and disorders in an outpatient setting at My Healing Center.

• Former high school science teacher at W. B. Ray for 8 years.

WHY I DO THIS WORK

I have always known I wanted to be in a job that helped others, be it teaching or healthcare. I believe that every person has the capacity within themselves to live a life that's connected to what's important to them, we just have to address the roadblocks to getting there. I find tremendous reward and satisfaction working with my clients to navigate their own path of recovery by learning more about how to harness and grow this inner strength in order to bring them to a better place.