About me
I graduated from Portland State University with a Master of Social Work in 2012. I also hold a Master of Fine Art in Creative Non-fiction and have published a memoir, House Rules, about my own experience growing up with an abusive father and coming to terms with familial estrangement. I’m currently working on a second memoir about how childhood trauma informs our adult selves, relationships, and life decisions. In 2014, I completed a yearlong fellowship at the Chicago School of Psychoanalysis. I also hold a certificate from the Ketamine Training Center in 2019, where I trained under Phil Wolfson. I’ve worked with psychedelic integration in several Ketamine clinics in Chicago, as well as individually in my private practice. I’ve also completed the Level 1 Gottman training for couples counseling with John and Julie Gottman.
Before becoming a therapist, I was an adjunct professor of English and Creative Writing at City College in Queens, New York. Oftentimes, my students would drop by during office hours with a question about an essay assignment, and we’d end up having deep, meaningful talks about their families of origin, their marriages, their parents and children, their desires, shames, and fears. I remember thinking…”This is the work I want to be doing.” Soon after, I left teaching and pursued my master’s in social work.
When I’m not doing therapy, I’m often writing, reading, hiking, cooking, enjoying music, and spending time with friends and loved ones.
“Courage doesn’t happen when you have all the answers. It happens when you are ready to face the questions you have been avoiding your whole life.”
— Shannon L. Alder
About My Practice
I’m a licensed psychotherapist in California (LCSW #113604) and Illinois (149.018285) with clinical training and experience in attachment-focused, relational, and psychoanalytic work.
My practice style is collaborative, warm, intuitive, and client-centered.
My Approach
Using compassion, experience and humor, I provide a safe environment for people to explore and express themselves without fear of judgment or shame. I’m very engaged in session. I’m passionate about helping people better understand themselves through asking thought provoking meaningful questions and providing a safe environment for people to explore themselves without fear, judgement, or shame. I enjoy working with curious, motivated people. This work is my world, my heart, and my joy. I feel deeply privileged to be here.
We’ll start with a 20-minute phone consultation to see if working together feels like a good fit. From there, we’ll schedule a 50-minute intake appointment to address your needs and expectations of therapy. We’ll start exactly where you’re at, in the present moment. After our third session, we’ll establish your therapy goals and decided how often we’ll meet. Each client’s treatment plan is unique. Amongst others, I like to integrate the following styles and techniques. Psychodynamic, depth, and relational. (hyperlink)
Sometimes it is the injury we are examining. More often it’s the scars. Our experiences early in life inform our thinking, beliefs, and life decisions. Our desires, hopes, and romantic partners. Our disappointments, shame, and brokenness. Our capacity to tolerate difficult feelings and emotions. To process joy, pain and love in a way that’s healthy and aligns with our wants and needs.
“Safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.”
― Bessel A. van der Kolk
“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
― James Baldwin
Therapy together can help…
Foster a deep sense of trust in your knowledge, intuition, and life decisions.
Free you up from old, unhelpful beliefs that are preventing you from pursuing the life you want.
Clarify purpose and strengthen your ability to ask for what you need—and set boundaries around what you don’t.
Encourage fuller and more nourishing relationships with self and others.
Connect with your core being. Better understand the world and who you are in it.
Lighten your load by processing grief and difficult emotions.
Help to emotionally regulate in stressful, anxiety-provoking situations.
Make sense of difficult, confusing emotions you’ve long been avoiding.
Build more trust and intimacy in relationships with others.
Nourish your individuality so you can fully and powerfully live the life you want.
Free yourself from beliefs and expectations that have prevented you from living life fully and passionately.
Create a more joyous and meaningful existence.
I have extensive experience in:
Family dynamics and estrangement
Relationship issues, marriage, and divorce
Self-compassion and self-worth.
Emotional regulation
Trauma/CPTSD and PTSD
Infertility
Grief and loss
Psychedelic integration/existential depth work
“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain.
It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
― Lois Lowry
Psychedelic Therapy
I am trained in Ketamine and Psychedelic integration therapy. I’m certified through The Ketamine Training Center, where I studied with Phil Wolfson in 2019. I’ve participated in several ceremonies utilizing plant medicine for healing over the last fifteen years. I’ve also guided many patients through Ketamine therapy at various clinics in Chicago, Il.
As we continue to discover that the body, mind and spirit are inter-connected, psychedelic integration work is a powerful and effective way to heal the psyche. This work takes courage, curiosity and a desire for insight and self-growth. Together, we will set intentions for your journey and thoroughly work through everything that comes up during your session. I will guide you through the session, holding space for whatever arises.
After your session, we will integrate all that’s come up for you during the session, creating meaningful and lasting change in your life. I respect the courage it takes to embark on this journey of transformation, and I’m honored to offer this service.
“I am not what happened to me.
I am what I choose to become.”
― Carl Jung
Services
50-minute Individual Psychotherapy Session — $185
50-minute Couples Psychotherapy Session — $195
Psychedelic integration session — $200
1 Hour Supervision for therapists — $125
A select number of sliding scale spots are available for clients who qualify. Feel free to ask me about this.
I am in-network with BCBS PPO of Illinois. For other insurance groups, I’m happy to provide monthly superbills that you can submit to your insurance company for partial reimbursement for OON psychotherapy, if available, based on your plan and deductible. For this, I recommend you call your insurance provider to clarify what they cover. It is the client’s responsibility to understand their insurance plans and seek information about their company’s reimbursement process.
