What does your approach to therapy look like?

I encourage my prospective clients to check out this video on contemporary psychoanalytic psychotherapy for a glimpse into a process of psychotherapy that is similar to my own: On Being a Patient. The process of psychoanalytic psychotherapy heals psychological, relational, and emotional wounding, as well as uncovers unconscious barriers that have prevented us from achieving our full creative potential and wholeness. My role is not to ‘tell you what to do,’ or ‘fix you,’ but to help you understand yourself, and in doing so, to help you learn how to trust your experience and make decisions that honor all parts of your experience and feelings. My work is also significantly informed by attachment theory, and where appropriate, I will sometimes utilize integrative interventions that draw from emotionally focused therapy, mindfulness-based therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy. I have trained personally and professionally in Eastern-informed mindfulness practices including meditation and yoga, and often use these in session with folks related to healing complex trauma . 

In addition, this video may be helpful in understanding the Jungian side of my approach, and in particular, some of how I may be thinking about and utilizing your dreams in the therapy: What's Unique About Jungian Analysis? [This Jungian Life also produces a lovely podcast related to jungian psychology and dream work]. As a Jungian, I’m also thinking about your process of individuation-in other words, how you are or are not reaching your fullest potential-and how that is contributing to your symptoms. There is a lot of diversity in approaches to therapy, and we’ll want to make sure my approach is what you’re looking for.

Are we a good fit?

My practice is solely telehealth. This means you must be a resident in the state of Washington for me to see you. For more information on whether or not telehealth is a good option for you, please look here.

My clients are generally looking for something more… they want the magic that arrives in becoming familiar with your inner world. I work well with clients who wish to know and understand themselves deeply, who wish to begin an active dialogue with their unconscious & understand the wisdom of their dreams, and around issues of trauma and family of origin suffering, current relational difficulties and suffering, as well as clients who are interested in understanding the wisdom of their dreams and who are involved in creative pursuits. I often work with folks who are experiencing something amiss in their work or relationships and are on the precipice of a big change. My clients are other therapists, intellectuals and academics, artists and creatives, and BIPOC/minority-identifying folx around issues of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, transition and gender, and the intersection of these identities, and those looking for a safe space to understand and heal from the effects of internalized oppression.

We will meet for 50 minute sessions, and you can consider our first handful of sessions exploratory, meant to feel out whether or not we will work together well. Because the therapeutic relationship is the most important factor in facilitating healing and change in your life, it is very important to find a therapist with whom you feel comfortable being vulnerable, as well as who is equipped and appropriately trained to work with your specific presenting concerns. These initial appointments will also be “intake” sessions, in which we are focusing on collecting information broadly about you and from your background.

What training do you have?

I am a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Washington (PY60865603). I received my doctorate from the Graduate Department of Clinical Psychology at George Fox University in Newberg, OR, and completed my doctoral internship at Montana State University's Counseling & Psychological Services in Bozeman, MT. I am fortunate to have had the experience of working with diverse patient populations throughout my training and career, and have provided psychological services across a diverse array of clinical settings, including inpatient psychiatric hospital services, outpatient psychiatric services, community mental health, residential services, university counseling, and private practice. I have also had the privilege of teaching and supervising in graduate training programs for therapists. I am a member of the C.G. Jung Society of Seattle as well as the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study and practice from a psychoanalytic, Jungian orientation and treatment approach. My post-graduate training, continuing education, and consultation has focused on dreamwork, cultural responsiveness, anti-racism and anti-oppression, and deepening my understanding of psychoanalytic, Jungian, attachment, and somatic approaches to therapy. I hold an advanced certificate in Dreamwork and Dream Arts. In terms of writing, I am an author of SFF and graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s Degree in English with Honors and psychology. My honors thesis examined medieval folklore and religion.

What can I expect from therapy?

A new way of being, if you are willing to do the hard work. Entering psychotherapy is a brave and vulnerable first step toward finding healing, wholeness, and self-awareness. Within the therapeutic relationship, and from a position of anti-oppression, you are known, seen, and understood, the wisdom of your dreams is honored and integrated, the unconscious ways you’ve learned to relate to yourself, others, and the world is recognized, and the achieving of your potential is cultivated. Through becoming familiar with your inner world, suffering and symptoms are alleviated, consciousness is blossomed, and unhealthy coping and behaviors are challenged and grown.

Healing does not look like no longer experiencing distressing emotions, but rather, creating a greater capacity to experience difficult parts of your experience and to appreciate and honor what they are telling you. 

Consciousness of these patterns and their triggers, awareness of your inner world, and healing of your symptoms is established first by helping you feel seen, understood, and validated, and then by interacting with your dreams, emotional experience, somatic (bodily) experience, and important past and current relationships. Sometimes, this means we will be processing original sources of pain or trauma, and often, it means we will be looking at your first primary relationships with your caregivers and understanding how those relationships continue to impact you today. This type of psychoanalytic therapy can often help when other therapies have not been successful. Additionally, I am aware that western psychology has been strongly influenced by systemic racism. I strive to be transparent in session about why I’m doing what I’m doing in an effort to empower BIPOC and other minority-identifying clients. I also strive to safely address issues of racism and micro-aggression when they occur, and to support you in reclaiming the wisdom of your ancestors.  

Vulnerability

If you haven’t been in therapy before, it’s normal to be uncertain about what to expect in the first sessions, including what to say or how to behave. There can be anxiety or awkwardness, which is also normal, as you get to know me, engage in vulnerability, and talk about the difficult experiences of your life. I will do my best to make you feel safe and comfortable as we get to know one another. As we get to know one another and work together, I may recommend that we make changes to the frequency of our sessions to best make use of our time together. It’s not unusual in psychoanalytic psychotherapy to meet 2-3 times per week; regardless, we make this decision together based on what best meets your emotional and financial needs.

Unconscious Feelings & Patterns

Psychoanalytic therapy utilizes free association, which means you are encouraged to discuss whatever comes to your mind freely; no topic is “off limits,” though I will never pressure you to discuss something that you don’t feel comfortable exploring. It also means that though I am engaged and flexible, I will be facilitating you feeling comfortable directing where our sessions go, unless you ask otherwise. We will check in often about your awareness of your feelings, the important validity of your feelings, and where you notice feelings showing up in your body. I will often ask questions about your past, your present day circumstances and, sometimes, about how you are experiencing the relationship with me; it’s normal for feelings and patterns to emerge within the treatment that mirror feelings and experiences in past or current relationships from your life. Questions like, “What do you imagine I am thinking or feeling as you share that?” can help us understand how you expect others to respond to you, and subsequently, how you navigate and protect yourself within your relationships, which may be related to your safety with vulnerability and satisfaction overall in your relationships. You can also expect that we will regularly discuss your night-time dreams as a means of exploring your unconscious.

Learn to ‘be’

Some moments of silence are to be expected in therapy; it is normal for these to feel uncomfortable at first, because many of us do not have spaces in our busy lives for stillness. In therapy, we are also creating a deeper capacity for you to ‘be with’ yourself, without expectation or pressure to be doing something or being ‘productive’ (thank you, capitalism, for that added pressure). As a result, homework assignments and advice are generally not to be expected, beyond that I may encourage you to keep a dream journal, or to incorporate body-focus (yoga, meditation, breath work) in your day. Instead, we will talk about the important feelings and experiences that motivate asking to be told what to do, and rather than proverbially ‘giving you the fish,’ I will be teaching you to fish instead. Though this is a little different with adolescents, generally-speaking in my work with adults, I rarely self-disclose (talk about myself) unless it is emotional (“I feel sad hearing you say that”) or related to our intersection of identities. I am happy to answer more questions about why my treatment is provided in this manner, should any questions come up in the course of our work together.

Scheduling & Treatment Length

When we begin therapy, your therapy is set-up as an established weekly (or more than weekly) meeting; this time is reserved for you. We may eventually increase or decrease session frequency, depending on your treatment. Instead of charging a cancellation fee, I am happy to offer three appointments during the calendar year of our work together for which you can miss without accruing a fee for any reason: including for sickness, vacations, etc. Cancellations that exceed your three free cancellations will be billed for the full session fee, unless we have negotiated a sliding scale fee, in which case they will be billed at that fee.

I work best with clients who are interested in weekly, long-term therapy. It is not uncommon for me to work weekly with clients for 2+ years. Self-understanding and awareness take time to develop, and consistency in the therapeutic relationship is important to both facilitating and maintaining awareness, symptom relief, and ultimately, to deep insight and wholeness. Because of this, I ask clients to commit to weekly therapy for a minimum of 12 weeks once we have established we are a good fit.

Insurance & Fees

$265      |    80 min couples session

$250      |    50 min initial intake session 

$200      |    50 min individual session                 

I am an in-network provider with First Choice and Kaiser's PPO plan. For all other insurances, I am an out of network provider, and otherwise accept out-of-pocket payment. Though I will not submit claims to out of network insurances, if you would like to use your out-of-network benefits, I am happy to provide you with a monthly statement, known as a Superbill, for you to submit to your insurance.  Some out-of-network insurances provide reimbursement between 60-80% of the cost of our sessions, though I encourage you to check your plan’s specific benefits. Unfortunately, due to insurance restrictions, I am unable to bill your insurance for couples sessions. 

Payment is expected at the time of service, unless I am billing your insurance; then, your co-pay is due at the time of service. We will set up your account in the client portal to charge the card we have on file for you following each weekly session. Due to services being offered by telehealth, I can only accept payment via card (credit, debit, FSA/HSA).