Therapy Services for Individuals, Couples & Families

I bring a direct, grounded approach to helping people with their day-to-day situations, while also drawing upon my training in psychodynamic therapy to work towards lasting change. My style is flexible, informal and gently confrontational. I bring warmth and compassion to help open up possibilities for people. It’s exciting when something that seemed unattainable begins to seem reachable.

My role as a therapist is to create a safe, trusting and comfortable environment where we become curious together about what isn’t working in your life, and find new ways to approach situations.

I have a deep respect for anyone who has the will and courage to begin the process of change. I can help create the conditions where you feel supported enough to begin the journey. Feel free to contact me if you want to learn more.

Teenage years are a time of transition. As teens transform from children into adults, they begin to redefine their relationships with friends, family, acquaintances and their identities as people. They also have many important first-time experiences such as experimenting with romance, challenging authority and spending unsupervised time with peers. This is when boundaries are tested and reset. This can be tumultuous, but it also allows teenagers to become confident and responsible adults when navigated successfully. 

It is a period in life when being true to yourself isn’t as simple anymore especially if it comes to navigating a new gender or sexual identity. Coping with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and other persistent emotional issues are especially difficult for young adults.  A death or loss can particularly shape teens’ development into young adulthood. These challenges might be daunting during this time in a young person’s life, but young people are often energetic and resilient enough to manage them long term.

A therapist can provide a space where teens feel independent enough to share some of their issues more openly than they would with family present or be the kind of outside mediator that teens sometimes want for family disagreements. 

I have worked with teens in individual, family and grief group settings. My goal in any of these scenarios is to make my teen clients feel heard and to help them discover their voice so that they are better equipped to meet the struggles of adulthood with confidence.

If you’re considering couples therapy, you have probably found that the relationship that you started with has changed.  Intimate relationships are extremely important in our lives, and when they are not functioning the way they should, everything in life becomes more challenging. The good news is any improvement in this area can dramatically impact overall happiness. This is one of the reasons I really enjoy working with couples.

My approach is direct. I help couples say the things that are most difficult to say. Equally important, I help you listen to one another. Communication is a key component in any relationship and if that is absent in some way, therein lies the essential issue. Showing you how to communicate without criticizing, defending, demanding or feeling angry will better serve you and your partner in the long run. Making sure that each individual feels heard and understood is my highest priority and teaching you skills to do that will be helpful.

My next priority is to not waste your time.  I feel I am doing you a disservice if I allow you to repeat your usual dynamic and not make progress. While remaining neutral, I will help you each look at the contributions you are making to the situation that brought you in to begin with.

• Couples counseling is especially useful if you are experiencing any of the following:

• Loss of interest in sex

• Distance and loneliness

• Communication problems

• Resentment and bitterness

• Infidelity

• Anxiety

• Unrealistic expectations

• Disappointment

• Lack of intimacy

• Conflict resolution

Families usually do not come into therapy until they are in real distress, disarray or pain. One person may look like they are “the problem” by acting out, breaking down, or otherwise preventing business as usual. It’s my job as a family therapist to jump into the system with you, and create solutions. The good news is that families can move back towards balance and health once they have established tools to communicate.

It’s important to establish an environment where everybody feels heard and safe enough to talk about what’s really going on. I respect the distinct culture of each family, both the ethnic/national/religious culture and also the unique personality of any one family. Without trying to change the family’s own identity, I try to help the members renegotiate the unspoken rules that control how everyone relates to each other.

Through our work together, we increase coping skills and create a toolkit to manage each person’s emotional reactions. The goal is to leave therapy with better ways to manage family relationships into the future.

Creative people can be out of balance because they are blocked, depressed and stagnant or they may be on the opposite side, so immersed in producing their work that their relationships are suffering. In either case, the person’s passion for their art or craft has somehow stopped the healthy flow of energy in their life. I have a lot of experience working with artists and the kinds of difficulties that bring them to therapy.

I can help people simplify their creative process, and quiet the voices inside them that get in the way. Often fear is ruling their world: the fear of failing, fear of succeeding, fear of having a voice, fear of not being important, or fear of losing the genius inside them if they get healthy. Uncovering and addressing fear is the major task in most of the work I do with artists.

Finding a way to live and be successful as an artist is very challenging in Los Angeles. Even in times of great success, artists have to be willing to risk failure. The difficulty of any creative work means that they are living with some measure of uncertainty, drama and anxiety all the time. I have a lot of respect and empathy for what it means to be an artist today, and I am glad to be able to bring my skills to the table and be of help.

How many times have you heard people talk about finding their voice? It’s often a metaphor that means finding their true self or essence. I think that’s because the voice is the most personal and very first means by which we communicate. From our first cries as a baby, to our sophisticated arguments as an adult, it’s how we make our needs known.

I have developed a way of working with people who want to express themselves more with their voices. I have combined my vocal coaching and teaching background with my therapeutic training to help singers with inhibition, fear, loss of confidence and performance anxiety. Under the right circumstances, I may accompany a client to a recording session, helping with confidence, nerves and self-sabotaging tendencies in the moment. I use visualization, humor and therapeutic intervention to address the underlying fears and feelings.