SERVICES I OFFER:

COUPLES/RELATIONSHIP THERAPY: I specialize in working with sexual desire differences, panic during sex, coming out, gender and sexuality exploration/transition (one or both partners), and more. Often, the couples I work with include at least one partner who is a trauma survivor. Many of the couples I support are coming out of conservative religious backgrounds (think "exvangelicals", deconstruction work, and couples with religious trauma). Other couples are navigating a life crisis, including one partner exploring gender or sexuality. I also provide support to parents of youth coming out as LGBTQIA+.

INDIVIDUAL THERAPY: I primarily work with sexual trauma, sexual pain, LGBTQIA+ folks, religious trauma, identity exploration, gender transitions, intimate partner violence trauma, and coping with chronic illness and cancer (I'm a cancer survivor myself!). I work with youth 14 and up (no upper age limit). Finally, I work with people of all ages encountering life transitions (college, work, grief and loss) - especially those navigating such transitions within systems that are unsupportive or even oppressive.

Contact me for other services, including clinical supervision and specialized couples therapy options (longer sessions, weekend intensives, or one-time consults).

WHY WORK WITH ME? 

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years of experience in social work, licensed in Illinois and Colorado. I have post-graduate training in Sex Therapy from University of Michigan (2016-18). As a sex therapist, I'm finalizing my certification hours. My current supervisor is Dr. Neil Cannon, sexologist, researcher, therapist, and faculty member. I regularly consult with peer therapists who work in similar fields to ensure I'm continually doing work to provide well-informed care.

When providing therapy, I am warm, engaged, curious, and non-judgemental. I will help you sort out and understand your feelings, fears, habits, anxieties, and thought patterns, and give you space to test out sharing the most private, upsetting, and secret parts of yourself. 

As a relationship therapist, I know that you and your partner need more than just space to process; you're here to halt hurtful and stuck patterns in your relationship and find connection, clarity, and healing. If you're looking for a blank-slate couples therapist, I'm probably not her. You're paying for productive, meaningful, supportive sessions, and I'll challenge you and your partner gently but directly so you're able to interrupt these conflicts and engage differently. 

I draw from a variety of methods and practices.  Some favorites are: attachment-based, Internal Family Systems, Relational Life Therapy (RLT), feminist (recognizing the harmful impact of gender oppression on all genders, men too!),  "Good Enough Sex" model, Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), narrative techniques, and anti-oppressive practices. 

A final note: While we will focus on YOU, know that I will not ignore the impact of generational and community trauma and oppression. Too often, we ask individuals to bear the burden of fixing community-level issues, and we pathologize the ways individuals have learned to cope with such macro-level oppression. Although we live and work within harsh and broken systems, and often contribute to them unknowingly, I work hard to avoid pathologizing the ways you have learned to survive and get by.