About

I offer psychotherapy for individuals, counseling for couples and relationships , and interpersonal process groups. 

My approach to individual and group therapy draws first on Relational, Modern, and Jungian traditions of psychoanalysis, as well as the central role of attachment in relationships. My work with couples is rooted in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) and the Gottman Method. My work with patients is also informed by attachment-focused practice, neurobiology research, and the contemporary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) traditions Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

In addition to working in private practice, I facilitate psychoeducation and process groups weekly for the Asheville-based Next Step Recovery’s Substance Abuse Comprehensive Outpatient Treatment Program (SOCAT), also known as a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP).

Psychoanalytic Therapy

The goal of psychoanalytic therapy is to relieve mental and emotional distress. Our present struggles often have roots in experiences and patterns that we’re not fully aware of. The simple act of talking–really talking about whatever’s on your mind–can be surprisingly powerful. Over time, the relationship between the patient and the therapist becomes part of the healing process.

What comes from this work?

As a patient is able to get in touch with and express more and more of their feelings, they start to gain more freedom. Old habits lose their grip. Relationships often become more authentic and satisfying. There is more space for self-acceptance, creativity, connection, confidence, and meaning.  

Couples and Relationship Therapy

I support couples and people in all kinds of relationships to break painful patterns, strengthen their emotional bond, and build the kind of connection they long for. My work is grounded in helping partners and family members feel seen, heard, and safe enough to grow together through challenges.

Group Therapy

Many of our troubles come from formative experiences in our families and communities. Therapy groups are incredibly effective at creating opportunities to experience, explore, and transform our thoughts, feelings, and relational patterns as they show up in the group itself. Over time, the group becomes a kind of microcosm or reflection of how you relate to the world. Interacting with other group members provides a unique opportunity to receive honest feedback and experience new ways of being seen, heard and understood. The relational depth experienced in a group can lead to lasting change in how you feel and connect in your everyday life. 

The Neurobiology of Attachment

Our earliest relationships shape not only our emotional world, but our brains and nervous systems as well. When those relationships are nurturing or “good enough,” our brains develop a strong foundation for resilience, trust, and emotional balance. But when there’s trauma, inconsistency, or disconnection, our nervous systems can stay in states of high alert or shutdown–sometimes long after the original experiences are over. 

Neuroplasticity allows us to achieve healthy attachment in adulthood even if we didn’t have it in early life. Psychoanalytic work can offer a new experience of connection that can create the foundation for deeper, more satisfying relationships in your life today.

Contemplative Psychology

My practice is informed by my background as a student of meditation and Buddhist psychology. At the core of these traditions is a belief that each of us has an inherent clarity, wisdom, and goodness. Contemplative psychotherapy invites us to turn toward our experience not as a problem to fix but as a meaningful expression of our journey through life. Contemplative therapy helps patients build an inner space within themselves to be with their experience, so healing can emerge from within. Contemporary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy traditions like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy draw on these centuries-old traditions and practices and have provided evidence of their effectiveness in providing relief from symptoms of distress.

My approach is also shaped by my study of Indigenous practices. While I do not not claim these traditions as my own, I carry the teachings I’ve received with great respect. At the heart of many Indigenous worldviews is the understanding that healing happens in relationship–our relationship to self, to others, to the land, to those that came before us, and to something greater than ourselves. From this perspective, emotional pain is seen not just as a personal problem, but often as a response to disconnection or loss of meaning. In practice, this means that I hold space for your story in a way that honors your whole being–mind, body, culture, and, if it is part of your life, spirit.

I work with people regardless of their spiritual beliefs, including atheists and agnostics. One way to think about what some refer to as spirituality is as the realm of the non-conceptual — that which we cannot put into words.

Professional Background 

My professional life involves first and foremost a deep commitment to clinical practice. I remain engaged in advanced post-graduate training, including extended programs at the Center for Modern Analytic Group Studies and individual supervision, and by attending and presenting at conferences and for other clinicians. As there is no finish line to growth, I am also engaged in my own individual and group therapy. Being in my own therapy allows me to stay connected to the very process I’m inviting you into. It also helps me notice and reflect on my own emotional responses and relational patterns so that I can offer a space that is as supportive as possible. It helps me sit with complexity and not-knowing—essentials in any therapeutic relationship.

I received my Master of Social Work degree from Western Carolina University. I have worked in residential, outpatient and wilderness therapy settings. My graduate clinical placements were at Matone Counseling and UNC Asheville Health & Counseling, where I provided individual, couple, and group therapy for adults and adolescents on a wide range of issues. I am licensed by the state of North Carolina as a mental health practitioner (LSCWA License #P022049). I completed the 2024-2025 Fellowship at the Chicago Center of Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy. I have also studied indigenous forms of healing with Kedar Brown of the Rites of Passage Council and completed grief tending training with Josh Fox. I have also facilitated social health programming to combat loneliness, heal trauma, and ignite mutual support in Western North Carolina through non-profit SeekHealing. I have practiced meditation and studied contemplative psychology rooted in Buddhist traditions since 2009.  

I received my Master of Education from Harvard University focused on educational psychology. I published research on educational psychology at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Science Education Department, and served as a Teaching Fellow in pedagogy in the Linguistics Department of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Appointments

If you would like to learn more, or would like to set up an appointment, please contact me here.