Treatment Approach
I provide psychological treatment for residents of California and Maine ranging in age from 10 to 65+ from a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) theoretical orientation using Telehealth Services. CBT includes evidence-based treatments such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for the treatment of OCD, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for the treatment of PTSD, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Comprehensive Behavioral (ComB) treatment for Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB's). CBT has been found by researchers to be a highly effective treatment for a wide range of mental health disorders and tends to be more short-term and present-focused than other treatments. CBT has also been found to be useful in helping people reduce distressing symptoms, such as anxious thoughts or panic attacks, by focusing on changing the way you think or behave in response to situations. Depending on your needs, I can incorporate mindfulness-based techniques, a variety of coping skills, and DBT skills in order to facilitate recovery. I make a great effort to work collaboratively with everyone I treat, with the goal of empowering people to make effective, long-lasting changes in their lives.
To learn more about my areas of practice, please click on one of the mental health categories listed below.
Services Provided
I provide individual psychotherapy for the treatment of anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorder, trauma- and stressor-related disorders, and somatic symptom and related disorders. Individual sessions typically occur on a weekly basis and are approximately 50- to 55-minutes in length. As people progress in treatment, we may gradually reduce the frequency and/or length of our sessions.
I also provide group psychotherapy for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder using exposure and response prevention, which is the gold-standard treatment for this diagnosis. Group psychotherapy sessions occur on a weekly basis and are approximately 60-minutes in length.
To learn more about my treatment approach for a specific psychological disorder, please click on one of the mental health categories listed below. Each treatment plan created is developed through a collaborative process, making it individualized and tailored to you. The various treatment approaches listed on my website for each disorder are generalized just for your reference. Please contact me directly if you wish to learn more about my treatment approach.
Areas of Practice
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders involve significant levels of distress or anxiety surrounding physiological symptoms. Illness Anxiety Disorder and Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder fall into this category.
Anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and specific phobias. Anxiety symptoms can range from daily worries to intense panic attacks, which often include physical symptoms (e.g., racing heart, hyperventilation, etc.).
OCD symptoms include obsessions (recurrent, often intrusive and distressing thoughts, urges, or images) and/or compulsions, such as repetitive behaviors or mental acts to decrease the distress of obsessions. Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (e.g., hair pulling; skin picking) also fall into this category.
Onset of PTSD can occur after exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. PTSD symptoms include negative changes in thoughts or mood, increased arousal or reactivity, intrusive symptoms, and avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event. Stressor-related disorders can occur when experiencing signifiant distress, such as anxiety or depression, in response to an identifiable stressor.
“An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior.”