Mental health counseling for teens and young adults
What I believe
how I approach therapy
You did not choose the situation that’s causing you distress right now (“I’ll take one Childhood Trauma with a side of Systemic Oppression, and hold the Effective Neurotransmitters,” said no one ever) and you’re still stuck dealing with it.
It’s normal to need support at times, and that’s where a mental health professional can come in. I see my role as helping you get unstuck from habits and beliefs that aren’t serving you anymore, and providing support that helps you grow. Depending on what you need in a given day, I can either coach you on coping skills to help you reach your goals, or just be there to listen, support, and ask questions. This is a collaborative process, and you’re the expert on your experiences and needs.
Am I the right therapist for you or your teen? We don’t know yet! The most important thing is that you feel comfortable with your therapist, and that they’re someone you can grow to trust. Let’s schedule a 15-minute free phone consultation (to make sure I don’t remind you of the fourth-grade teacher you hated) and we’ll take it from there.
Who I work with
teens and young adults 13+ with a variety of concerns, including:
ADHD/autism/neurodiverse concerns
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma/PTSD
Life transitions
Relationships/establishing healthy boundaries
My specialties
(and what the alphabet soup means)
Person-centered
With person-centered therapy, the client is in charge of their treatment. I can be the expert on mental health techniques/diagnoses, but you are the expert on your life and your needs. Person-centered techniques mean that I provide unconditional positive regard: My job is not to judge you, your emotions, or your experiences.
DBT
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based therapy that aims to balance acceptance and change. It’s like someone mashed a guide to healthy boundaries into a giant encyclopedia of coping skills.
EMDR
Eye-movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) theorizes that sometimes unpleasant experiences teach us negative beliefs about ourselves that get stuck. EMDR aims to replace those beliefs with more helpful and accurate ones by directly targeting neural networks in the brain, using bilateral stimulation (like eye movements, tapping, or sounds to stimulate both “sides” of your brain).
Bio
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. I got my Master’s from NYU in 2017 and became licensed in Washington at the end of 2019. I accept Premera insurance and Aetna, and can do superbill or sliding scale if you’re out of network.
I worked at Ryther Child Center for five years and facilitated their DBT IOP program for four years, where I received high praise from teens such as, “Thanks for making group fun,” “You’re the only therapist I haven’t talked shit about to my friends, so nice work,” and, “Good hair.” My proudest achievement there is stuffing the coping skills curriculum into meme-filled powerpoints in hopes of retaining teens’ attention (the memes are cheugy, but I think it worked).
I love knitting, reading, plants and mushrooms, and the grumpy middle-aged furball pictured below.
