Adult Psychotherapy and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
Often, individuals and families contact me after having tried therapy or different types of healing. Intellectually, many understand their anxieties, depressive feelings, or family struggles, to name a few, but continue to repeat the same emotional patterns. The psychoanalytic frame, in particular, offers a nuanced understanding of both conscious and unconscious experiences while addressing longstanding patterns within ourselves and in our relationships. This approach is gradual and takes time.
In brief, through your story, we listen to what happens in the therapeutic relationship and to experiences that may be difficult to put into words and contribute to feeling stuck. Desires, dreams, and ambitions often become secondary to panic and addictions directly due to losses and traumas. In sessions, we will reflect attentively on what happens in therapy, day-to-day life, and early years, allowing us to make sense of different parts of our life experiences, including confusion, the unknown, the overwhelming, or the unspeakable.
Through this, new experiences, possibilities, and opportunities for change can begin to emerge. I work with adults across the lifespan, from all backgrounds and experiences.
Specialization includes:
- anxiety (including panic and phobias)
- depression
- intimacy
- trauma
- addiction/recovery
- divorce/separation
- suicidal thoughts
- relationship struggles
- psychosis (as well as related sleep struggles)
- obsessions and compulsions
- grief/loss
- somatic concerns (i.e., bodily responses to various current and past experiences)
- fatigue
Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
I am certified in child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy through the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute (formerly known as the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis). I work with children, adolescents, and families to support inner growth. The heightened privacy, confidentiality, and quality of care as a private practitioner is especially important given the age, developmental needs, and future-oriented life experiences of children and adolescents.
Child/Teen specialization includes:
- self-esteem
- anxiety
- academic issues (includes avoidance and struggles with separation)
- destructive aggression vs. helpful aggression
- social difficulties
- screen/tech use
- addictions
- trauma
- suicidal feelings
- grief/loss
- adoption
- deficits with attention (sometimes referred to as ADHD or other similar diagnoses)
- impulsivity
- autism spectrum disorder
- anger
- fatigue
- night terrors
Psychoanalytic or psychodynamic therapy for children or teens offers the opportunity to expand one's capacity to feel, think, and relate independently. This approach helps one better understand complex feelings, inner experiences, and 'symptoms.' Through play and open conversation, treatment creates a space where developmental growth can unfold in fluid, nonlinear ways-setting the foundation for the necessary developmental capacities to navigate the present and future.
As a psychoanalytic therapist, I have been influenced by DW Winnicott along with writtings on play as central to what we understand as health. For Winnicott, play is not simply an activity, technique, or something facilitated by a designated toy; it is a way of being in which a person can experience spontaneity, creativity, and a sense of being real or in contact with something authentic. This is how healing, affect regulation, and development occur(s). Ultimately, this is done within the context of relating and relationships.
In a safe, empathetic environment, we address these complex needs while working through the underlying experiences that may be affecting mood, school, self-esteem, family struggles, and relationships. This thoughtful, engaging, and creative process creates space for meaningful change.
If you're unsure what direction to take with your child/teen, I provide consultation to caregivers, medical professionals (psychiatrists, pediatricians, and family doctors), and school staff. I also have a preferred provider network to support growth. This includes referrals to inpatient programs, psychiatrists, OT/PT's, addiction recovery groups/inpatient programs, and other supplemental therapies.
Psychotherapy and Intensive Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
As a Candidate in Psychoanalysis at the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, I also offer three to five sessions weekly for those seeking intensive psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. A sliding scale fee is available when insurance or finances cannot cover the frequency of sessions. I invite you to contact me for an initial consultation.