Therapists in Takoma Park, MD

I have been providing individual and couples therapy for 30 years. I have been told that my style is direct, compassionate and non-judgemental.

I have been working with individuals, couples, and families in the Maryland area for 20 years, During my time here I have had the privileged to serve as a college chaplain, youth pastor, university professor, and mental health clinic director. At present I divide my time between serving mental health and substance abuse clinics as a clinical supervisor and consultant and running a thriving private practice. I specialize in helping other professionals fight off burnout and establish an effective work/life balance. This become increasingly important with the additional stress Covid-19 has placed on all of us.

My goal as a therapist is to help you understand and resolve the things that block you from happiness and emotional well-being. I work in a collaborative, interactive style that is both compassionate and challenging, and I ensure a safe and respectful atmosphere. I will work with you on practical solutions to immediate crises and problems; as well as understanding and changing maladaptive patterns of thinking, behaving, or feeling that stem from past experiences.

My approach is geared towards helping clients make choices and relate to others in ways that reinforce their feelings of autonomy, fulfillment, and peace. We engage to explore current situations and the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and then develop strategies to help better manage situations or make decisions. Strategies we explore may include short term action plans as well as longer term resilience building to manage ongoing challenges. I will work with clients to develop new ways of interpreting difficulties, understanding others, and communicating that are in line with their own values and hopes.

We all have complicated personal stories that have led us to where we are in life. Your unique thoughts, fears, desires and emotions can affect the quality of your daily experiences and cause you to repeat unhealthy patterns.

As a psychotherapist, I have more than 30 years experience providing clients a safe, non-judgmental environment where issues can be explored and difficult feelings can be identified and expressed. I specialize in working with individuals and couples whose difficulties in early relationships have created corresponding difficulties in the present, including feeling locked into negative patterns of relating, depression, anxiety, and loneliness. I provide my clients the opportunity to learn new more effective ways of communicating and relating that in turn can lead to positive changes in their lives.

I have 25+ years of experience in treating anxiety disorders (such as OCD, panic disorder, and phobias), depression, and difficulties related to psychological trauma. For the past 13 years, I have also been treating eating disorders and trichotillomania. I work primarily from a cognitive-behavioral perspective. This involves my client and me working as a collaborative team to determine what skills it would be useful for my client to learn and practice. This process tends to reduce distress and facilitates achieving a greater sense satisfaction, happiness, and meaning in life.

My clinical expertise is in issues related to emotional regulation, trauma, loss, and early life attachment experiences. I have a particular interest in supporting parents of young children (particularly at this time and in relationship to COVID-related school and care transitions). My approach can broadly be described as insight oriented and rooted in attachment, relational, and interpersonal theories as well as self-psychology. My expertise rests on meaningful personal experiences and on continuing rigorous training and teaching.

In these challenging times, you may feel more stress, couples may have tensions. I am here to help and support you. Working in-person and online, couples and clients feel better, like themselves better, make healthier choices, develop self-compassion and compassion for others. I help people and couples work through challenges and emerge more confident, peaceful and happy. My clients grow and feel supported and challenged as they grow. My work helps you identify core patterns, treat yourself kindly, improve your most important relationships, understand and resolve old conflicts and trauma, and feel better. Please start on my Website

'What worries you, masters you.' Do worries, stress and fears cause imbalance in your life? I work with individual clients to identify and reframe core beliefs and assumptions, and shift challenging patterns and behaviors. 'Love does not dominate; it cultivates.' Relationships require openness, curiosity, and trust. Couples counseling provides a nonjudgmental, distraction-free space to share and listen. Clients explore challenges, identify strengths, and mutually gain deeper understanding of themselves and the relationship. I am licensed to serve clients living in Maryland and Virginia.

We come to therapy to change our lives which can only be done by changing ourselves. I believe the most effective changes occur when we can experience and examine our behavior in relation to others. In individual therapy you and I will not only identify and try to understnad how your life experiences have shaped your behavior, but how you and I experience that behavior in our relationship. When I work with couples, I focus on your dynamics of intimacy, power imbalances, money, sexuality, and the impact of family and friends on your couple.

The hardest part of overcoming a challenge is knowing where to start. In counseling, we can discover together what is getting in the way of living your best life. Whether you're struggling to manage emotions (e.g. anxiety, sadness), keep up with work/school, master your relationship with technology, or navigate recent life transitions, it can feel overwhelming at times to go it alone! I will work with you to identify your "stuck points", collaboratively create a plan to address the areas you want to work on, and support you in replacing approaches that don't work with ones that do. Change is hard but worth the effort!

You have decided that something in your life needs to change: perhaps chronic stress or emotional pain, confusing behaviors or needs in your child, or your way of dealing with ongoing family issues. Therapy is a collaborative process in which I facilitate these changes. I have significant experience with issues around giftedness and its social-emotional challenges, anxiety, trauma, attachment, and adoption. I treat all clients with respect, interest, and openness. I am a relaxed, approachable person who feels privileged to work at a job I love with children and adults who teach and inspire me with their courage.

I have twenty five years of experience providing psychotherapy for young adults and adults (18-90) as well as couples and families. I utilize CBT, ACT, psychodynamic psychotherapy, mindfulness based stress reduction, motivational interviewing, and other approaches to suit your needs. I specialize in treating substance use disorder, co-dependency, process addictions, eating disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, grief/loss, life transitions and relationship difficulties. I work from a strengths based perspective and help clients strengthen coping strategies and deveop new strategies to create and enhance the life you want to live.

Are you feeling frustrated, lonely, overwhelmed, or depressed? Does it seem like there must be more to life than what you are getting? Sometimes we just feel stuck in our lives. Old emotional wounds or patterns keep nagging at us, keeping us from feeling free to live authentically. Relationships can be one the most rewarding or distressing parts of our lives. Changing the way we relate to ourselves and to others is key. Therapy is a transformative process that can help us address our concerns about ourselves and others.

I am trained in a psychodynamic and relational approach that includes the use of play therapy, art, music, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness. I have spent the last 20 years working clinically with children and adolescents in school settings in Baltimore City, Montgomery County and Prince Georges County. I currently combine my work as a school counselor in a special education facility with private practice.

Is emotional baggage weighing you down? Traumatic events are usually the source of depression, anxiety, anger and weight issues. Overcome your pain from past child abuse, sexual assault, emotional neglect, abandonment, divorce, or other maltreatment. My Trauma Relief Program effectively heals my clients' emotional wounds. This gentle process can effectively help you to relieve the burden of your emotional distress and leave the past behind you. Your pain will be deeply understood, and gently released. Depression, anxiety and anger lift. You will be able to move forward in your work and personal life as you will have gained emotional freedom,

For the past 4 decades plus, I have specialized in LGBTQ issues. I currently focus on gender identity issues and assist my transgender clients with navigating their often challenging journeys. As an "out" cisgender lesbian practitioner, I strive to help my LGBTQ clients travel from a place of shame to pride. Much of our work centers on self- esteem and the ways in which homophobia and transphobia impact so many areas of our lives-including family, career, and our intimate relationships. I love animals and also do veterinary counseling and consulting. My style is interactive and casual. I highly value your confidentiality.

I am invested in the empowerment of individuals, families and organizations. I believe that within each system, there are natural leaders. The individual has the capacity to maximize their own outcomes. I will focus with each individual to explore that potential. The team also has experience in government, non-profit, and community based settings. I will utilize these experiences to support client success. An ideal client has a desire to believe!!