Looking for a therapist for yourself or a loved one can be intimidating, and it can often occur during a stressful time. If you are looking at this page, I want to commend you on taking these initial steps as I understand how difficult it can be to engage in such a task. A local artist in Pittsburgh once advocated that we should ask ourselves, “What is our next best step one?” That can obviously pertain to many facets of life but if it pertains to your search for a mental health therapist for yourself or someone else in your life, well, that is worth recognizing!

Overall, I just want to be that person that someone wants to meet with regularly to work on figuring out how to have the life they want. I am not an expert of people and who they are. I have expertise in areas that people face in life, how people respond to specific things, and I know best-practice approaches to helping people overcome specific barriers and obstacles, but my goal isn’t to come in and tell you what to do differently. My compassion lies within getting to know you, building trust and a relationship, and then working together to address the issues at hand.

Oh, and I like analogies and I like to explain this one to everyone I come into contact with in this profession: When you get knee surgery, it is often followed by physical therapy for an extended period of time. Often, the main part of your surgery isn’t addressed fully until the muscles around the specific area are strengthened. Once that is done, then the focus shifts towards the main injury because the support system (in this case, the undamaged areas) are strong enough to support the work that the inured area requires in order to improve. Well, I believe the same is true for therapy in that in order to address the stuff that increases the odds of wanting to go to therapy, we must first take care of the stuff that is not near as bad as the primary concern bringing us to therapy. Once that is done, then the other work begins.

When I started working in this field, I worked with folks who had a history of experiencing adverse life events. These looked like experiences with bullying, parenting difficulties, community violence and reintegration, physical and sexual abuse, and a variety of other life stressors. Because life stressors were the theme to the folks I was providing treatment for, I was exposed to individuals who were in the justice system, folks who got in trouble at school and/or at home, and I even worked with the folks who “flew under the radar” but whom were still severely impacted by their experiences. Throughout these experiences within these contexts of life, I was able to treat not only the children, teens, and adolescents, but also the people involved in their care. Talk about humbling!

Over the last 6 years, I have predominately focused on working with children and teenagers (ages 8 through 18) and the folks who care for these youth-aged individuals. Examples of things worked on with this population include, but are not limited to: social skills, ADHD, anxiety, bullying, communication, parent-child bonds, life adjustments, PTSD, depression, and other things that can develop from experiencing life stressors or developing trauma symptoms over time. In addition, a high focus is always placed on extending information and knowledge about trauma and its impact on health and wellbeing to the people who I am so fortunate to be able to meet through this type of work.

I am pleased to be able to continue this pursuit and passion at AWC. While here, I will be continuing to provide trauma informed therapy to children and adolescents while working collaboratively with their system(s) of support (parents, caregivers, doctors, case workers, etc.) to ensure the best quality of care. In addition, I will also be offering limited availability to transition age youth and young adults who want to improve how they navigate change and adjustments.

Age Groups

Specialties

• Child and Adolescent Concerns
  • Trauma and PTSD
  • Anxiety and Depression
  • Social-Emotional Readiness
  • Adjustments
  • School-Readiness
  • Behavior Management
  • Communication

Can Also Work With

• College Age and Young Adulthood Concerns
  • College-Age Transitions and Adjustments
  • Adjustments in Young Adulthood
  • Trauma

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