How did you get interested in providing therapy?

Throughout my life, I have found myself drawn to learning about people and human behavior.  During my undergraduate studies, I took courses within the psychology and sociology departments, a favorite class of mine being “Family Bonds,” or the sociological study of the family.  When I found out that there was a career called social work, and one can learn about, and best of all, aid the human experience, I decided that was what I wanted to do.  After earning my Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2013, I worked within NYC’s child welfare system offering family therapy, with the goal of preventing fostercare placements.  I witnessed firsthand the resiliency of the human spirit, and how strong counseling and clinical skills can empower clients.  My current practice draws on these lived experiences of how social injustice impacts clients, and how a therapeutic relationship can transform someone’s life.

What are you like as a therapist?

A value I uphold the most is that therapy outcomes depend on therapeutic rapport; the relationship is the vehicle in which change happens.  I believe that therapy should be collaborative; we will work alongside one another in order for you to achieve your goals.  As someone who identifies as Queer and Trans, I am a very nonjudgmental person, and I bring this approach into the therapy space.  I like to say that there is nothing I haven't heard before from any client.  I am also very flexible in my therapy practice, and will draw on a variety of therapeutic techniques in order to help you.  Some of these modalities are: family systems, trauma-informed therapy, cognitive behavioral, dialectical behavioral, relational, etc.  I have post graduate training in couples and family therapy, so I bring my knowledge of communication and relationships to the therapy work as well.  I am friendly, warm, and empathetic, but I am also direct.  I firmly believe that you should leave session feeling like we worked on skills together, and that our work is helping you to accomplish goals in your life.  I am particularly passionate about working with the LGBTQIA+ population, which is a population where I proudly see myself reflected. In it’s purest form, therapy means understanding yourself or your loved one(s) more, and in a sense, that is liberation.