Anxiety & Depression

8% of teens and 18.1% of adults struggle with an anxiety disorder. 11% of teens and 6.9% of adults struggle with depression.

Anxiety is hard to describe, but easy to fall prey to. It is a free floating apprehension or worry about a perceived or unperceived threat that may or may not ever materialize. Anxiety triggers can be many different things, like crowds, loud noises or overstimulation, school or work, health, or fear of failure.

Depression can feel like a 200lb weight that sits on your chest or back and keeps you from living life the way you used to and truly want to. Getting up and out of bed in the morning can feel like a marathon and nothing seems fun or even interesting anymore. The constant barrage of unhelpful, negative thoughts keeps you stuck in patterns that are not life giving.

When seeking treatment for anxiety and depression, it is important to learn effective coping skills to tolerate the distress, as well as, address the underlying issues. Using an eclectic approach, I utilize evidence based practices, like CBT, DBT, and ACT to support my clients.

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate out of all psychiatric disorders.

The most commonly known eating disorders are: anorexia (AN), bulimia (BN), avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), and binge eating disorder(BED). Often times, before someone realizes they have an eating disorder, they notice that their relationship or view of food is different than most other people’s they know.

It can start with something as benign as labeling food as good and bad or healthy and unhealthy and soon turn into this part of your life that has exerted control over most other aspects.

Treatment for an eating disorder can mean life or death and regardless of how long you or your loved one has been struggling with eating or body image and it should be taken seriously. When supporting a person or family who is struggling with an eating disorder, I only use evidence based practices to begin identifying the contributing factors for the onset and maintenance of the eating disorder. I employ the help of a dietitian, physician, and psychiatrist when needed and believe that full recovery is possible!

Risky Teen Behaviors

IN 2017, 8% OF 8TH GRADERS & 33% OF 12TH GRADERS REPORTED DRINKING ALCOHOL IN THE PAST 30 DAYS.

Teenagers struggle to make effective and appropriate decisions consistently due to the continued development needed for their prefrontal cortex and also due to the fact that middle school and high school is way more challenging now than ever before.

Risky Teen Behaviors can describe many different things. Some behaviors that fall under this category include: drug and alcohol use, partying, sneaking out, sexual promiscuity, bullying, or violence.

Often times, these behaviors are engaged in without teens thinking carefully through their decisions. Additionally, a teen who engages in risky behaviors consistently is often using them as a way to cope with underlying issues that they either want to avoid or don’t know how to talk about.

In therapy, my goal is to identify the motivation behind these behaviors, discuss the risks of their poor decision making, and instill alternative, more effective activities they can engage in and coping skills they can use.

Self-Harm & Suicidal Ideation

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for 10-34 years olds. 4% of adults at 15% of teens struggle with self-harm.

Sometimes life feels incredibly overwhelming and defeating, to the point where you feel like the only option or the best option is to kill yourself. You begin to believe that people will be better off without you or no one will miss you if you’re gone.

Sometimes, hurting yourself is better than hurting other people. Hurting yourself is a way to release the pent up emotion that is building below the surface, a way to make you feel anything because you just feel so numb, or a way to punish yourself for any wrong you’ve done.

Suicidal thoughts and self-harm urges are more common than you think. And they are serious. In session, I work hard to create a safe, comforting space where you can speak freely about your thoughts and urges. We’ll work together to figure out what is causing these thoughts to come to your mind and identify better ways to healing that pain and hurt. Freedom from this cycle is possible!