Step Into My Office

I remember the first time I went to therapy.

As a college sophomore seeking support after a traumatic event, I was desperate for someone to help me put the pieces of myself back together. Instead, my mental and emotional pain was met with clinicians who seemed to judge me by my maladaptive coping skills before the end of an already-brief initial consultation.

They didn’t even know me. How could they possibly understand me based only on the ways I had learned to cope with what I was going through?

Although I already knew that I wanted to become a therapist, my experiences on the other side of the therapeutic chair shaped the kind of therapist I promised myself I would be. I wanted to do everything I could to ensure that my clients felt seen, heard, understood, and accepted — regardless of what they brought into the therapy room.

So what does therapy look like with me?

I use a person-centered approach to therapy.

Person-centered therapy was developed by American psychologist Carl Rogers and is grounded in the belief that each person is unique and that their understanding of their own experiences deserves to be trusted (Psychology Today).

In traditional person-centered therapy, sessions are largely non-directive. Rather than positioning themselves as the authority on a client’s life, the therapist creates a compassionate, nonjudgmental space where the client can explore their experiences, perspectives, and emotions without being pushed in a particular direction.

That philosophy is at the heart of how I approach therapy.

I believe that you are the expert on your own life. Your experiences, values, perspectives, and worldview matter. Rather than simply telling you what I think you should do, I want to help you understand yourself more deeply and develop solutions that feel authentic and meaningful to you.

Because sometimes, the most powerful answers aren’t the ones someone else gives us — they’re the ones we discover within ourselves.

Collaboration is an important part of our therapy sessions.

Being person-centered doesn’t mean I’m going to sit silently while you’re left to figure everything out on your own.

Instead, I think of therapy as a collaborative relationship. A person-centered approach takes the therapist off the pedestal and places us alongside one another, working together toward greater understanding, healing, and change.

I bring clinical training, therapeutic tools, curiosity, and an outside perspective to our sessions. You bring something equally important: your lived experience, strengths, values, goals, and knowledge of yourself.

I may have expertise in therapy, but I am not the expert on you.

Collaboration means bringing those strengths together. We’ll explore patterns, unpack experiences, challenge perspectives when appropriate, celebrate growth, and work together to determine what moving forward looks like for you.

I utilize evidence-based practices in my work.

A person-centered foundation doesn’t mean therapy has to be one-size-fits-all — and I don’t believe it should be.

Evidence-based practice integrates research, clinical expertise, and each client’s individual needs, experiences, and preferences to determine the most appropriate approach to treatment.

Some of the therapeutic modalities I incorporate into my work include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

I consider myself an integrative, or eclectic, therapist. Rather than adhering rigidly to one therapeutic modality, I draw from different approaches based on what we’re working on and what resonates with you.

I’m also open to hearing about strategies, modalities, or therapeutic experiences that have been helpful to you in the past. Therapy should be responsive to the person sitting in front of me — not the other way around.

Meeting you here; guiding you forward.

This is the mantra behind Courageous Resilience Therapy.

As a therapist, I want to meet you exactly where you are — without judgment and without expecting you to have everything figured out before you walk through the door.

I want to see, value, and respect you as a unique individual who already possesses strengths, courage, and an inherent capacity for meaningful change.

I see my role as a guide. You remain at the center of your therapy, while I walk alongside you — gently and compassionately helping you explore new perspectives, recognize patterns, develop skills, process difficult experiences, and create meaningful change through approaches tailored to you.

My hope is that therapy helps you recognize and strengthen the tools you already carry while developing new ones along the way.

Because resilience isn’t about never struggling. It’s about discovering that even in the midst of struggle, you can learn, heal, grow, and continue moving forward.

I’ll meet you here — wherever “here” happens to be — and together, we’ll work toward where you want to go next.