Providing mental health counseling for men, women, and teens in Anchorage, Alaska
Areas of Focus
I work with clients on a variety of issues including depression, anxiety, stress and adjustment issues, difficulty in relationships, and self-esteem issues. I have a particular interest in working with clients who struggle with body-image, restrictive eating, bulimia, binge eating, emotional eating, and difficulty with weight loss.
Many clients come to me during life transitions and I enjoy working with people who are experiencing changes in their lives due to marriage, divorce, new parenting, or other challenging role and identity changes.
About Me
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor who has been working in Alaska for the past 11 years. I moved to Alaska shortly after finishing my graduate degree in Mental Health Counseling at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. I have worked with adolescents and their families in an inpatient setting and now enjoy working with adults and teens in my outpatient private practice.
My Approach to Counseling
I believe that it is crucial to be genuine and honest in therapy while providing a safe environment to process, understand and move through current issues. I use an eclectic approach in counseling, meaning that I focus on understanding each client's personal strengths and preferences to determine how best to address issues and then help to integrate those with counseling strategies that will be most effective. Often, clients find it useful to integrate tenets from several theories such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, strengths-based approaches, and systems theories. I am a trauma-informed therapist and a trained EMDR provider. These varying theories can help clients understand their past, be more comfortable with the present and move towards change. In my work with emotional eaters and disordered eating, I come from a holistic, non-pathologizing viewpoint and help client move towards a healthy emotional relationship with food without dieting or guilt.
I view my role as a therapist as being collaborative in nature; I strive to find creative solutions to help my clients meet their personal goals. I am dynamic and straight-forward and my client's tell me that they value my honest insights that aren't veiled with clinical jargon or "psychobabble." Clients say that they appreciate my non-judgmental attitude, my collaborative approach to counseling, and my genuine desire to understand their unique experiences.
I welcome clients of all backgrounds, colors, faiths, sexual orientations and gender orientations.