Working with me
I am a psychotherapist based in Chicago and currently offer individual psychotherapy via telehealth to adults throughout the state of Illinois.
People have often learned that difficult thoughts and feelings are unwelcome and should not be acknowledged. Avoiding, dismissing, and disconnecting from our feelings can, over time, result in a variety of unhelpful experiences (e.g., symptoms of anxiety, depression, physical pain and discomfort, as well as relational difficulties). Learning to attune to and tolerate feelings is an important, necessary part of self-awareness and living an authentic life. I believe that through knowing and understanding oneself better, a person is more equipped to change things that previously have been hard to change. Psychotherapy can help people not only feel better, but also help people learn how to better feel.
My insight-oriented, relational approach to psychotherapy is intended to (ideally) help my clients:
identify and explore what is underlying the symptoms, experiences, and difficulties that resulted in the decision to engage in psychotherapy
learn how to identify, explore, and tolerate feelings (especially those that are difficult or uncomfortable)
better know and understand oneself
understand why emotional attunement and knowing oneself more fully can be helpful in reducing suffering and improving overall well-being - as well as why it is a fundamental aspect of living a more authentic, fulfilling life
identify and work toward the changes that would need to be made about oneself in order to feel better
Clinical areas of focus
My clinical areas of focus include generalized anxiety, social anxiety, relationships & dating, codependent relational patterns, family of origin issues (which often includes relational and/or attachment trauma), and general life transitions. I specialize in working with people who grew up with emotionally absent caregivers, which can often be described as childhood emotional neglect or parental emotional misattunement.
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Experiencing anxiety is quite common. I work with individuals to explore anxiety diagnostically, as well as adaptively. Sometimes symptoms of anxiety require a practical treatment approach (such as learning coping skills, exploring medication, lifestyle modifications). Often, symptoms of anxiety are showing up for a variety of reasons that are adaptive; exploring one’s experience with anxiety can often be helpful in informing us which areas of life we are living that are misaligned with our true selves.
From a diagnostic perspective, according to the DSM-5, symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder include:
-restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge; easily fatigued
-difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
-irritability
-muscle tension
-sleep disturbance such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless and unsatisfying sleep
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Dr. Jonice Webb defines emotional neglect as “a parent’s failure to respond enough to a child’s emotional needs. Emotional Neglect is, in some ways, the opposite of mistreatment and abuse. Whereas mistreatment and abuse are parental acts, Emotional Neglect is a parent’s failure to act. It’s a failure to notice, attend to, or respond appropriately to a child’s feelings. Because it’s an act of omission, it’s not visible, noticeable or memorable. Emotional Neglect is the white space in the family picture; the background rather than the foreground. It is insidious and overlooked while it does its silent damage to people’s lives.”
When applicable, I work with clients to explore how the absence of emotional attunement from a parent/primary caregiver has, and continues to, impact their relationship with themselves and others.
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I believe that our past informs our present, yet does not have to define our present. Our family of origin is often our first experience in being in relationship. In understanding the relational dynamics we experienced and learned in our family of origin, we can better understand the effect and influence those experiences have on the ways in which we relate to people in adulthood and how sometimes, this is getting in the way of how we WANT to be relating to other people.
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Talk therapy can often be helpful when navigating life transitions such as: getting married, pregnancy, becoming a parent, relationship break-up/divorce, professional transitions, moving.
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Relationships and dating can be complicated, beautiful, frustrating, difficult, and rewarding experiences. I work with clients to help them understand how the beliefs they hold about themselves, the role they may have learned to play in relationships (e.g., the people-pleaser, the caregiver), attachment style, and societal/cultural expectations can impact the experiences one has in relationships and dating. Ideally, through increasing self-insight and self-awareness, clients can ultimately then connect with others in ways that feel more satisfying.
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People can experience various types of trauma during a lifetime. I specifically focus on traumas that individuals may have experienced during childhood, including physical, verbal, and/or emotional abuse; emotional neglect; abandonment; parental divorce; parental loss.