MY APPROACH
Humanistic-Existential Psychotherapy
Recognizing a pattern in yourself doesn't necessarily mean you can change it. You might long for closeness yet find yourself pushing people away. You might know that a familiar way of coping no longer serves you and still struggle to let it go. In therapy, I help you make sense of these contradictions for yourself—how they developed, what they've helped you manage, and how they continue to shape your life—so you can decide whether you want to keep living that way.
Humanistic-existential psychotherapy begins with the person, rather than a diagnosis or collection of symptoms. Emotional distress may be what brings someone to therapy, but symptoms alone cannot tell the whole story. This approach seeks to understand suffering within the broader context of a person's life, including their relationships, personal history, values, and ways of experiencing themselves and the world.
The work is collaborative and experiential, combining thoughtful reflection with attention to what unfolds in the present. Together, we explore feelings that may be difficult to acknowledge, familiar ways of protecting yourself, and what becomes possible as you engage with these aspects of your life more fully.
Humanistic-existential psychotherapy also recognizes that some of life's most difficult realities cannot simply be resolved or eliminated. Loss, uncertainty, mortality, responsibility, and the limits of our freedom are inseparable from being human. This approach offers a space to confront these realities, explore their personal meaning, and develop greater freedom in how you choose to live.
AREAS OF FOCUS
I work with adults experiencing a range of psychological, relational, and existential concerns, including:
What I help with
Depression and persistent low mood
Anxiety and panic attacks
Trauma
Grief and loss
Life transitions and identity concerns
Relationship difficulties
Existential crisis and questions of meaning
EXISTENTIAL CONCERNS
Existential Crisis and Questions of Meaning
An existential crisis can emerge following a significant loss, a major life transition, or the realization that something in your life no longer feels right. It can also arise without any obvious precipitating event. You might begin questioning a career you've spent years building, a relationship you once felt certain about, or whether the life you're living reflects what matters most to you.
These periods can bring a profound sense of uncertainty, anxiety, grief, or disorientation. Questions about mortality, freedom, responsibility, isolation, and meaning become deeply personal rather than abstract. You may find yourself confronting choices you cannot undo, possibilities that are no longer available, or the unsettling reality that no one else can tell you how to live your life.
These questions are not inherently signs of psychological dysfunction, although the distress they bring can be substantial. Confronting the limits of your freedom, the inevitability of loss, or uncertainty about your future can be painful. These experiences deserve to be taken seriously, not dismissed or hurried toward a reassuring answer.
Therapy provides an opportunity to engage with these questions directly. This may involve acknowledging grief for what has been lost, examining fears about change, questioning expectations you've lived by, or coming to terms with realities you cannot alter. The aim isn't to eliminate uncertainty or provide answers about how you should live, but to help you develop a deeper understanding of your experience and greater agency in how you choose to respond.
WORKING TOGETHER
What it’s like to work with me
My style as a therapist is warm, open, and engaged. I offer observations, ask questions, and gently challenge you to look more closely at things that emerge in our work. I can also be direct when the moment calls for it, and I appreciate the role that humor can play in our work together.
Curiosity is central to how I approach therapy. I'm interested in what's happening beneath the surface of your experiences, including thoughts, feelings, and patterns that aren't always immediately obvious. My goal is to help you cultivate that same curiosity toward yourself, approaching even the parts of your experience that feel difficult or uncomfortable with greater openness and compassion.
I'm equally interested in what's happening within the therapy itself. If our work begins to feel stuck, if we keep circling the same issues, or if something important remains unspoken, I take that seriously. These moments are meaningful parts of the therapeutic process. They can reveal how you've learned to protect yourself, particularly when something feels painful or vulnerable to approach.
Rather than pushing past these moments, I want us to understand what's happening. For example, I might say, "I've noticed we haven't spent much time talking about something you identified as important to our work. Have you noticed that too? What do you make of it?"
I work relationally, which means an important part of our work involves paying attention to what happens between us in the here and now. Sometimes I'll share something I'm noticing or experiencing in our interaction. For example, I might say, "When I said that, I noticed you seemed to pull away a little. What was happening for you in that moment?"
These interactions give us an opportunity to understand how you experience relationships and how you might be experienced by others. Rather than only discussing relational patterns after the fact, we can explore them as they're happening between us.
BEGINNING THERAPY
An invitation to connect.
If you're considering therapy with me, I offer a complimentary initial consultation. We can talk about what brings you to therapy, discuss any questions you have, and get a sense of whether working together feels like a good fit.