Offering couples therapy intensives in Arlington, Virginia
Practice Values
I dedicate my work to helping my clients give value and importance to their own life experiences. Those experiences impact how you see yourself, others, and the world. We all bring our own lens into our relationships, creating something unique together. That can be rewarding but also challenging over time. Experiencing new differences can feel uneasy, especially if we have spent most of our early relationship years enjoying shared interests and experiences.
Some clinicians may shy away from working with couples who appear completely incompatible or too different. However, I celebrate people who can show up as their unique, genuine self and yet connect and grow with another beautifully different individual. I see it as a strength and a healthy progression in any relationship.
You might struggle when conflict arises in your relationship. Conflicts can lead you to question whether you are with the right individual.
It can drain you of hope.
When you understand yourself and know yourself better, you can communicate your needs, wants, and desires to your partner. One of those desires may be to grow and expand as an individual while also feeling seen, loved, and cherished by your partner.
Your past life experience can color current conflicts. When you understand how your past impacts your present, you can begin to hear old things in new ways. Your partner also begins to understand you more deeply. This builds a stronger foundation in your relationship.
This requires curiosity on your part.
I enjoy working with people who are curious about themselves and other people. Curiosity is the main staple in creating fluidity in thinking and fostering a growth mindset.
I believe in your capacity to grow together and as individuals. I help you see that there can be a way to be your fully realized self while working together effectively as a couple.
I want you to have hope.
Work Summary
In my very early career, I worked in the Job Corps and a community counseling center seeing adults, children, and families. I’ve also provided postpartum support, worked with children with a psychiatric diagnosis, and was a Special Education English teacher and testing coordinator in a psychiatric setting for teens.
These experiences allowed me to appreciate that it is not always the therapy interventions or the therapist that has the biggest impact.
A sense of connection to people and to the community is critical for individuals, couples, and families to thrive. This network provides a context and appreciation of daily life struggles.
People want to be seen and heard.
They also want to feel like there is a safe place to come and explore hard things. When people feel that you genuinely care to listen, they can create massive changes in their lives.Working in community health, I saw individuals from various life circumstances. Their resiliency was critical to the work. When we work together, we learn together, and the impact is magnified.
Personally Speaking
I grew up in upstate New York, approximately 2 hours outside of NYC. It was a small middle-class town where many individuals either knew each other from birth or were sometimes related.
This wasn’t my family’s experience because we moved there when I was four years old.
I had supportive teachers and coaches, and it was a unique experience to go from kindergarten through high school with the same friends. My only regret was the lack of racial diversity the population offered as a person of color.
I’m friendly but identify most often as an introvert. One of the first things people remark about is my smile. While I am calm and easygoing, I am not a small-talk or chatty person.
I prefer to observe other people’s behavior to decide how best to meet them where they are. I am slow to make assumptions and choose my words carefully. I think about how my words will impact your feelings before I say them.
Western culture can overemphasize the need to be extraverted. But both personality types are extremely valuable in society, each for different reasons. Introverts can be really good at picking up details and the steps needed to get there, not only the big picture.
A book that I highly recommend to anyone that identifies as more introverted is the book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain.
While introverts and extroverts can be good listeners, I find that the two groups listen in different ways. I’ve learned to listen intuitively with my whole body and not just listen to the words. This is an essential interpersonal skill that can be learned.
Couples can become even better listeners to themselves and each other. My clients say they feel listened to. There is no better gift to give someone than the feeling of being heard.
Family & Children
I enjoy family outings, whether a simple trip to a park or seasonal activities. I especially enjoy taking my family to fall harvest events like pumpkin and apple picking. It reminds me of my childhood growing up in upstate New York, where apple orchards are plentiful, and the changing of the fall leaves is incredible. There’s a certain crispness in the air.
I enjoy providing my children with multiple sensory opportunities: through play, (which includes outdoor activities like biking, scooters, and playground), jumping in puddles, or drawing with sidewalk chalk.
When the weather is not as nice, we do Montessori-aligned activities that help them build strong motor skills while also having fun. Affection and patience are also essential to me in raising my children. I hope these will build foundational skills toward being happy, healthy adults one day.
Chocolate is my favorite treat, and it is rare for me to go a day without having it. I like it in any form, baked goods, hot chocolate, or simply by itself.
Who has inspired you?
I have teachers and mentors that have been a true inspiration to me.
I had a wonderful mentor who truly saw the good in almost everything and everyone while also appreciating and acknowledging the not-so-good. Her mentorship helped me see that life is mostly gray, even though it can feel easier to see it in stark contrasts.
She didn’t just preach certain values, but she also lived by them. She made people feel seen and at ease within just a few minutes of meeting her.
I also had a teacher who taught me that while flexibility can be a strength in some areas of life, never give yourself over to anyone else. I was surprised by this comment and had a hard time comprehending it. He taught me the importance of knowing your worth and the value you have to offer the world…to ensure your life choices work well for you and others.
Hobbies and Interests
I enjoy cooking for friends and family. There is no better joy than providing love and comfort through a home-cooked meal. I am known in my circle for providing delicious brunches. Brunches are a wonderful way to incorporate a fancy and casual atmosphere simultaneously.
My best dish is homemade quiche and waffles with berry compote.
I am also very interested in yoga, which became more accentuated during my work in maternal mental health. Yoga is where mind, body, and spirituality can come together without needing a religion or denomination, and it has true healing and grounding properties.
My interest in yoga has increased since having children of my own. Becoming a mother can be such an emotional and yet very physical experience. What can be known as the “maternal preoccupation of the mind” often had me feeling so disconnected from my body.
Yet, the body speaks in all kinds of ways and won’t be ignored. Yoga allows me to check in with myself and be mindful of where I may be holding tension that can be released. We all need ways to decompress, and if it involves intentional breathing, all the better.
Lastly, while it may seem a bit nerdy, when alone, I enjoy reading, writing, listening to podcasts.
I love reading about human behavior and thus writing from an experiential and observational lens. I enjoy attending training and conferences. I truly love what I do, and it can, in some ways, be considered a hobby.
I only just recently learned how to ride a bike in my 30s. Not for lack of wanting, I just somehow missed that developmental skill along the way. Learning as an adult felt a bit embarrassing.
Bike riding appears to be such an intuitive process for most people, and often people forget how they even learned, let alone to be able to teach someone else. But it is true that it always stays with you once you learn it. I was lucky to have a good friend who was patient with me and even loaned me a bike from his teenage daughter to ride.
Clinical Office
My office is spacious and serene. The walls are a calming blue. I’ve given thought to the selection of furniture and accessories. I want it to be a home away from home and to provide a comfortable space for myself and my clients.
One of my favorite parts of the office is the big window. The sunlight, filtered through the trees, comes streaming in. In spring and summer, I enjoy opening the windows for fresh air.
I have a baby changing station installed in my office. I think it is a very important need that my office building failed to consider. I like sending the message that my office is a family-friendly place that supports parents with children.
Your privacy is also important to me. I have chosen an office with separate entrances and exits.
I work in an area close to Washington, D.C., with both a residential and city feel. Most places are walkable and/or metro accessible. You can be in the district or two nearby states, like Virginia and Maryland, all in one day and still be home for dinner.
Professional Membership
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- 2019-2020: Supervision Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry
- 2017-2019: Infant Observation2017-2019: Infant Observation Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry
- 2016-2022: Washington Center for Psychoanalysis
