Mood Disorders

Many individuals seek my help in therapy because the anxiety and/or depression they are experiencing is negatively affecting many aspects of their lives. Common symptoms may include not feeling good about yourself, loss of connection with friends and family, diminished productivity at work, and/or an overwhelming sense of unhappiness, nervousness or angst.
In their primary forms, anxiety and depression can be excruciatingly painful and debilitating, resulting in a complete loss of interest in life and inability to function in daily living. However, even their milder manifestations can have an enormous impact, preventing clients from fully participating and enjoying life. For some clients, biological components of anxiety and depression are primary and are often treated in conjunction with medications; for non-biological causes, research shows that talk therapy works better. Yet, regardless of their origins, work with a therapist significantly reduces symptoms and enables clients to have more happy and productive lives.

Trauma can occur in many forms and at different stages of life—and its impact can be devastating and last for a lifetime. Symptoms vary from person to person, but many survivors experience frightening flashbacks, hypervigilance, and/or nightmares. Perhaps even more common, trauma can result in sexual problems, reduce our ability to build connections and trust with others, or reappear in abusive relationships.

For some, trauma can be due to physical, emotional or sexual abuse in childhood and/or adulthood. For others, emotional symptoms develop after a bad car accident, or after witnessing another person’s death. For many of us, trauma can be due to growing up in a homophobic family and culture, experiencing racism, or being bullied. My training and experience in sensorimotor psychotherapy allows me to integrate a traditional talk therapy approach with techniques that come from contemporary neurobiological research and a modern understanding of how the body processes core emotions.