Who I work with…

I help people who feel like their lives are overwhelming or they need help to figure things out. I work with people interested or even ready to do something different. They can understand that what they think, how they feel, and what they do contribute to the experiences they have in their lives. They may be thinking, feeling, or reacting in ways that they don’t want. And they are interested or even willing to learn how to think different; how to better handle what they feel and process old pains; to practice responding instead of reacting.

I work with people who can understand that to get different results in their lives, they need to do things differently.

How I work…

I work from a behavioral framework. Behaviorism is a natural science that acknowledges that our behaviors determine our experience. It is a direct and active model that involves learning new skills to modify your behavior. I mix it with mindfulness and cognitive therapies, working with both the conscious and unconscious mind to reframe beliefs and alter unhealthy thinking patterns.

I mainly use brief therapies to guide a person through changing how they think, feel, and act so that they can experience more immediate change in their lives. Change can occur quickly because of my direct and strategic approach. After we’ve identified the challenges that you are experiencing in what you think, feel, and do, and your goals, then we elicit the underlying structure or process of your thoughts, feelings, and actions. I use different techniques from an eccletic toolbox of models, along with what has worked for you in the past, to apply an active strategy to make the changes. We do the work together, through practice, to help you make shifts in your life. I offer psychoeducation on explaining things as we go along and maintain a self-deterministic view – meaning, you are the one deciding what we work on and how we go about it.

I approach my work from a secular (non-religious) perspective while respecting my clients and accepting their individual beliefs, values, and experiences in a professional and non-judgmental manner, irrespective of any faith, religious or spiritual beliefs, non-religious stance, personal philosophy, cultural background, or political ideology.

The therapeutic models that I mainly use are behavioral therapy and solution-focused brief therapy. Some other models I draw from include: cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT), such as dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT) and problem-solving therapy (PST); mindfulness-based interventions, such as MBSR and MBCT; eye movement therapies; hypnosis, including Ericksonian hypnosis and regression work; internal family systems (IFS) therapy; Eugene Gendlin’s focusing-oriented psychotherapy; neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and parts work; emotional freedom techniques (EFT); acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); motivational interviewing; and psychodynamics approach.

Where I work…

I work online via HIPAA-compliant video telehealth services, such as Zoom, Psychology Today, and Doxy.

I also work in-person at mental health offices in Eldersburg, Carroll County, and Urbana, Frederick County.

The Carroll County mental health therapy office is in Eldersburg, MD and located at 1311 Londontown Blvd, in the Londontown Square shopping center along Sykesville Road (Rt. 32). This is near the Liberty Road (Rt. 26) and Sykesville Road intersection, in South Carroll.

The Frederick County mental health therapy office is in Urbana, MD and located at 3280 Urbana Pike, in the Knowledge Farms office building along Urbana Pike (Rt. 355) near Ijamsville, MD, in Southern Frederick County. It is in between downtown Frederick and the Clarksburg, Germantown, Gaithersburg areas of Montgomery County.