Live your life according to your values-
Not in reaction to your emotions.
I help my adult clients overcome constant anxiety, being people pleasers and perfectionists, struggling to hold boundaries, and struggling with self-confidence. And I help keep my young clients from getting there in the first place.
I am an anxiety and trauma psychologist. My adult clients initially struggle to let go of worries, feel anxious about their relationships, push themselves too hard at work and burn out, and find themselves stretching themselves too much for others then feeling resentful. Many identify as a 1.5 or 2nd generation immigrant, a highly sensitive person, or someone who experienced complex trauma like childhood emotional neglect, relational trauma, or developmental trauma. They worry all the time, find themselves overwhelmed by emotions, or feel distracted and disconnected in their daily life. They held it together for a long time, but aren’t getting by anymore. Or they don’t want to just get by anymore.
With children, parents see their kids struggling with worry, withdrawing from activities they used to enjoy, or having outbursts that don’t quite fit the situation. As their parent, they’ve tried to help them, but they don’t know what to say or how to make it better.
If you want to feel fulfilled, joyful, engaged, and enough in your relationships, or you want to see your child’s ease and joy return, I’d love to help you get there.
Therapy Services
Telehealth Therapy for Adults in Texas and North Carolina.
Adults
In-person Therapy for Children and Families in Asheville, NC.
Children & Families
In-person in Asheville, NC or Virtual in North Carolina and Texas.
Parent Consultation
Common Concerns I Treat in Therapy
Anxiety
Some brains are wired to notice what could go wrong more than others. And when we have brains that are wired that way, it’s hard to know what to do to make it better. We can’t get our brains to turn off even when we know logically it doesn’t make sense to be anxious (Planes fly safely every day! No one else seems to think about an email they sent last week so much!). This can impact our sleep, our time with loved ones, and just feeling okay during the day.
Unfortunately, many of the things we try, like distracting ourselves and asking others to reassure us, can make anxiety worse. I work to teach you a new approach to your anxiety that allows you to free up your time and energy for the things that matter to you.
Children can have this type of brain, too! Sometimes the first clue your child is anxious is they start asking lots of questions about their worries. But often parents notice their child acting differently. Perhaps the child retreats and doesn’t do things they enjoy. Sometimes they start having big feelings that are hard to soothe.
Maybe you’ve tried some things for your child, but they’re not helping. Let me show you how to help your child and give you both a new way to relate to the anxiety so that your child can go back to their joyful selves.
Trauma
Unfortunately, trauma is much more common than we want to acknowledge. Sometimes it is one overwhelming experience and sometimes it is an experience or unmet need repeated over time. Both impact our mental health and can even change our brain structure. Trauma experienced over time is called complex trauma, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) or developmental trauma, and can be part of a family pattern called intergenerational trauma. Childhood emotional neglect is a type of complex trauma.
We may not always see the connection right away, but long-term trauma can lead to things like never feeling good enough, always being afraid of making mistakes or failing, not trusting others, and neglecting our own needs.
When we look at each individual interaction or experience, they can seem like small things that shouldn’t affect us so much. But when we have these feelings every day and in every interaction, we can see that how they harm our relationships, decisions, careers, and health.
Some people who have these experiences describe a constant terrible feeling in the pit of their stomach or a weight on their chest that won’t go away.
A particularly prevalent form of trauma is trauma that results from oppression. Due to their identities, some are unable to escape these interactions and this harm. This is a vital layer of my work with clients.
When I treat these difficulties for people of all ages, we first have to build safety, self-compassion, social support, and skills in managing intense emotions. We work to make sense of your story and to unlearn unhelpful patterns. This can feel like a scary journey, and it’s important that you feel supported and safe along the way.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Challenges with:
Focus
Organization
Procrastination
Just keeping your life together
Many people experience these challenges independently, but many that find they have it along with or following anxiety or trauma. This makes it hard to get the things done you need to do and many feel shame that they’re struggling.
I will work with you to problem solve and learn skills so these aren’t so challenging. We’ll also work to build a better understanding of the root of these challenges to improve self-compassion.
I stand with anti-oppressive care. I believe in the importance of advocating for racial equity. I support and affirm all gender identities, sexual orientations, and relationship types. I believe in the importance of providing accessible care, including neurodivergent-affirming care. I align with health at every size (HAES).