Understanding Yourself is the Beginning of Change
Psychodynamic therapy for adults who want to understand the patterns beneath their struggles and create meaningful change.
Therapy that looks beneath the surface
Life doesn't come with an instruction manual. Sometimes we know what we want to change, and even know what we should do differently, but still find ourselves caught in the same patterns.
Therapy can help you understand what's happening beneath the surface: how your history, relationships, experiences, and ways of coping have shaped the way you see yourself and move through the world. From there, we can begin to consider what you want to change.
I'm a clinical social worker licensed in Oregon, and I've been working in social work since 1992 and in private practice since 2013. My approach is psychodynamic, relational, and engaged. I don't believe therapy works particularly well when the therapist simply sits back and listens. I'll ask questions, offer observations, challenge assumptions when appropriate, and pay attention to patterns, not only in your life, but in what happens between us.
You may be here because...
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You understand what you should do, but keep finding yourself repeating the same patterns.
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Anxiety, depression, self-doubt, or other difficulties continue even though you've tried to manage them.
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Your relationships repeatedly leave you feeling hurt, disconnected, responsible for others, or unsure of yourself.
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You struggle with trust, intimacy, boundaries, or a persistent sense that you aren't quite enough.
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Something from your past continues to affect you, even though you thought you had moved beyond it.
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You are functioning reasonably well on the outside but sense that something deeper isn't right.
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You want more than symptom management. You want to understand yourself more fully.
Therapy isn't just about feeling better.
Sometimes we need practical tools to help us get through the day. But lasting change often requires something more: understanding why certain patterns developed in the first place and why they continue to feel so compelling.
Together, we can explore the experiences and relationships that have shaped you, the ways you've learned to protect yourself, and the assumptions you may have developed about yourself and other people.
The goal isn't to become someone different. It's to have greater freedom to decide who you want to be.
A little about me
I've spent more than three decades working with people whose lives have been shaped by trauma, loss, addiction, displacement, poverty, difficult relationships, and experiences of being misunderstood or unseen.
Over the course of my career, my approach has evolved, but one principle has remained constant: people make more sense when we understand them in the context of their lives.
Ready to talk?
If you've been carrying a sense that something deeper is going on beneath your anxiety, relationships, or self-doubt, you're not wrong, and you don't have to figure it out alone.
I'd welcome the opportunity to hear what's bringing you to therapy and see whether we might be a good fit.
