Work With Me

HOW THERAPY WORKS HERE

My approach & what I’m looking for

I offer 50-minute individual therapy sessions for teens and adults located in Oregon, California, and Washington (where I am licensed). I may be able to meet with people in other states depending on current licensure requirements.

Most clients meet with me weekly.

Therapy is virtual, conducted via HIPAA-secure video.

I work with people who are ready to engage. That doesn’t mean you have to be fearless or perfectly regulated. It means you’re willing to reflect, experiment, build skills, and move toward processing what needs to be processed.

This isn’t passive therapy.

We don’t just talk about patterns; we work on changing them.

You can expect:

  • Directness without harshness

  • Compassion without endless validation

  • Structure without rigidity

  • Humor without minimizing what hurts

I am comfortable working with high-acuity trauma, suicidality, and complex presentations. I am extensively trained in DBT, trauma-focused approaches, and mentalization-based work, and I consult regularly to ensure I’m practicing responsibly and effectively.

If we’re working together, I am thinking deeply about your case. I track what we’re doing. I refine. I train. I don’t “wing” it.

Working with teens & families

Often the kids I work with are unseen in key ways by the larger world.

Sometimes systems see the struggle — the shutdown, the irritability, the missed assignments — and miss the intelligence, creativity, and depth underneath. Sometimes it’s the opposite. A teen’s brilliance is obvious, and the effort it takes just to stay afloat is invisible.

Both are invalidating.

And being a teenager right now is not simple. The world is loud. The stakes feel high. Climate change, political upheaval, social pressure: none of this exists in a vacuum.

I take a different approach.

I work to see the whole person — strengths, stressors, context, and nervous system — not just behavior.

Family involvement

Therapy with teens works best when families are involved thoughtfully.

You are the most important people in your teen’s life. What happens at home has more impact than what happens in an hour-long therapy session.

Family involvement looks different depending on age, goals, and what’s happening. Sometimes we meet together. Sometimes I’ll meet with parents separately. Sometimes I’ll share the skills we’re building so you can reinforce them at home.

As a parent or guardian, you have the legal right to know what happens in your child’s therapy.

And — therapy works best when teens have space that feels genuinely their own.

My experience is that teens engage more fully when they know I’m not giving a play-by-play of every session. I ask families to trust that if there is something important for you to know, you will know: ideally directly from your teen, with my support.

Confidentiality isn’t secrecy. It’s what allows real work to happen.

Fees & insurance

I am primarily a private-pay therapist.

Private pay allows us to:

  • Work without insurance dictating the pace or structure of therapy

  • Focus on depth rather than diagnosis

  • Maintain greater privacy and autonomy

If you would like to use insurance, I am in network with:

  • Pacific Source

  • Blue Cross/Blue Shield

  • Aetna

  • Moda

If you wish to use your insurance, I will need your insurance information at least 48 hours before our first meeting to verify benefits. Without that information, we cannot meet.

If I am out-of-network with your plan, I can provide a superbill for potential reimbursement. You pay me directly, and your insurance may reimburse you depending on your benefits.

I also accept HSA/FSA payments.

My hourly fee is $225. If cost is a barrier, feel free to ask about current sliding scale availability.

Request a consultation

Frequently asked questions

  • I offer relational therapy and trauma processing for teens and adults who are passionate, curious, idealistic, intense, and bright. Most of the people who I work with are (check one or all) Autistic, ADHD, borderline, highly sensitive, gifted, neuroqueer, and have experienced trauma - often quite extensive trauma. I work a lot with queer and trans folks as well. 

  • For most clients, we are working toward engaging in trauma processing. We may start there, or we may also need to do some stabilizing and skill building first. (And in practice it’s often not that linear – it’s pretty common to go back and forth on these components.)

    I work mostly within two modalities:

    • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for skill building and stabilizing 

    • Mentalization-based Narrative Exposure Therapy (MBNET) or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma processing

    Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a comprehensive treatment designed to reduce suffering and life threatening behaviors, including chronic suicidality, and learn and practice new skills to cope through the ups and downs of life. The dialectical part refers to the practice of learning to hold two seemingly opposing truths, such as “I can be afraid and I can do the thing anyway,” “This trauma is not my fault and yet I am the only one who can address it,” or even “You’re trying as hard as you’re can and yet you need to do more.” Skills training in mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness are also part of DBT, and I find that these skills are especially helpful for those of us who always wanted a manual on this whole being-a-human thing. The goal of DBT is to equip you with what you need to build a life worth living – what that looks like is up to you. With some clients we will do a deep dive into DBT; for other folks, it will be more of the background informing my clinical thinking.

    Mentalization-based Narrative Exposure Therapy is the modality I have found the most powerful and effective for trauma processing. This involves us identifying the traumatic or maybe just plain confusing memories you have, and deeply engaging with the memory. We’ll look at it from many angles. The mentalization part is where we develop understanding of the people involved in the memory: the perpetrators and any bystanders. This is so we can gain greater understanding of the harm that was done, not to try to feel more empathy for those who have hurt you or let you down – my experience has been that people are far too willing to give perpetrators the benefit of the doubt, at their own expense. (This work is also powerful for addressing harms we have done to others, or been complicit in.) Exposure – directly confronting what we’re afraid to look at – is well validated by research to address trauma. It’s also a hard thing to do! We’re innately inclined to avoid what hurts us. Turning around and looking at your trauma straight on is one of the bravest things you can do, and one of the most transformative.

    I have also been trained and certified in EMDR, and am happy to talk to potential clients about which path might be most effective for you.

  • Showing up, as fully as you can. This includes: reducing distractions during our sessions, taking care of your sensory and bodily needs before and during session, giving honest feedback, reflecting on our work between sessions, following up on resources that we have discussed, and reaching out for help as needed. (Sometimes building these skills is where we start in therapy.) Most of all, having just enough willingness to hang in and engage in the tough work of personal transformation. 

  • Tender respect, which includes lovingly pointing out hard things. I am active in our sessions, meaning I offer more than just validation and reflection – I might suggest some skills, connect threads between sessions, bring up patterns I’m noticing, or give you some homework. I will challenge you, and welcome you to challenge me right back. We will also celebrate the heck out of your wins. 

    I heavily invest in my continuing education, read a lot about my field, and do a lot of consultation and personal work; I take my work very seriously, and if I won the lottery tomorrow this is still what I would do with my life (though probably I’d get one of those really swanky chairs for my office). 

    Working with neurodivergent clients as well as many chronically ill folks, I strive to make my practice accessible and work for both of us. I am adept at navigating tangents. I try to name usually unspoken expectations and norms in therapy, and welcome clarifying questions to help put you at ease.

  • I am only accepting adult and teen clients at this point.

    I do not offer couples’ therapy.

    I am happy to offer referrals if I can.