Conditions Treated

My Areas of Focus

I work with a wide variety of issues, but I am especially interested in helping people who struggle with emotions related to depression, anxiety, relationship problems, stress management, medical stress, aging, caregiving, and grief.

• Depression:  Do you feel sad or empty most of the time?  Have you lost interest in things that you used to enjoy?  Have your appetite, sleep patterns, or energy levels changed?  Are you thinking negatively about yourself and about life?  Does everything seem like an effort?  If you answered yes to several of these questions, you may be clinically depressed and may want to consider counseling.  I also work with other mood disorders such as Bipolar Disorder, Dysthymic Disorder, and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
• Anxiety:  Are you often nervous, tense or on edge?  Do you worry a lot?  Do your fears create problems in your relationships, work or ability to function?  Have you experienced a traumatic event?  Do you have panic attacks?  Do you go out of your way to avoid anxiety provoking situations?  Do you experience obsessions or compulsions?  Again, if you said yes to any of these questions, counseling may help.  I’m especially interested in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), social anxiety and phobias.  I also have experience working with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
• Relationship Problems:  Relationship issues that I work with often include marital and dating concerns, divorce and separation, family-of-origin issues, shyness, social anxiety, assertiveness issues, trust issues, boundary issues, people pleasing, anger management, caregiver stress, loss, and grief.  Relationships are an important aspect of our lives, and are worth working on.  I can help you in your efforts to improve your relationships.
• Stress Management:  Many people might not be clinically depressed nor have an anxiety disorder, but may be experiencing similar symptoms because of stress or a change in their life that they are adjusting to.  Examples include illness, work stress, unemployment stress, time pressure, life phase or aging issues, school related problems like test anxiety, family changes, loss, finances, and moving, among others.  We all could use a little extra support at times, especially when facing difficult life circumstances.  I can help you through problem solving, emotion processing, relaxation training, mindfulness training, distress tolerance training, biofeedback, time management, balancing your lifestyle, prioritizing, wellness principles, positive psychology and the such.
• Medical Stress:  Are you struggling with emotions related to illness, injury or pain?  You may have a chronic illness like diabetes, arthritis or fibromyalgia, a potentially life threatening illness like cancer or heart disease, pain from a surgery or injury, or limitations to your mobility and freedom due to other medical problems.  It may also be a struggle to follow your recommended treatment regiment, or to deal with the effects that your medical problems have on your relationships.   Therapy can help you to feel supported in your efforts to cope with these types of difficulties, and to maximize your dignity and enjoyment of life.
• Aging: We encounter different challenges at each stage of life.  Older adults may want to work on maximizing quality of life, sense of dignity, independence, and sense of purpose; increasing meaningful activities and community involvement and managing ongoing relationships; adjusting to changes, limitations and losses (such as grief, isolation, loss of income, displacement, or loss of independence) and coping with cognitive decline, memory problems and/or health issues.  Counseling can help you to cope with difficulties as well as with your efforts to live life to your fullest potential.
• Caregiving and Grief: Are you close with someone who has a serious medical problem, or someone who is dealing with challenges related to aging?  Although there are many rewarding and meaningful aspects to caregiving, it can also be challenging and stressful.  Also, if you have lost a loved one, grief can at times feel overwhelming and can last long after friends have stopped asking about it.  If you feel you need help in coping with stress related to caregiving and/or grief, talking with a counselor could help you to process grief related emotions, understand the tasks and stages of grief, and to recover from complicated grief.

I also emphasize wellness and lifestyle modification in my practice.

• Wellness: Wellness means living an all around well balanced life, with a healthy lifestyle, good nutrition, exercise, creativity, healthy relationships, positive experiences, intellectual exploration, a sense of meaning and purpose, and avoidance of substance abuse.  I’m happy to help anyone interested in maximizing their wellness, happiness and potential.  I want to help you not just survive, but thrive... to increase life satisfaction, meaning and fulfillment, to create positive experiences, to deepen relationships, and to move toward self-actualization.
• Lifestyle Modification means decreasing unhealthy or ineffective behaviors and increasing healthy and effective behaviors.  You may have been encouraged to change your lifestyle due to medical problems.  Or you may have your own reasons to want to life a healthier and more effective life.  For example, people with ADHD often need help developing an organized lifestyle that helps them to compensate for their difficulties, people with diabetes may need support in changing their diet, and people with relationship issues may need to restructure their lifestyle in order to better attend to certain relationships.