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In your sessions, you’ll have a space to explore, feel heard, and begin using practical tools to manage and reduce anxiety.Â
I will support you in identifying specific thoughts and physical sensations related to anxiety, help you unearth deeper emotional layers, and guide you in fostering an internal dialogue that supports peace and calm.
We will work together to personalize a treatment plan that suits your needs, respecting the many dimensions of your experience.
Our work together will draw on the following therapeutic methods:
Somatic Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Somatic CBT)
Somatic CBT is an evolution of traditional CBT, emphasizing the connection between thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. We focus on helping you identify and reframe thought patterns while integrating practices that support your body’s natural ability to regulate stress. Through mindfulness and somatic exercises, you’ll develop tools to release tension, understand your physical response to anxiety, and create a more stable, grounded experience of your daily life.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Anxiety can often feel like an internal tug-of-war. With IFS, we help you understand and harmonize the different "parts" of yourself that may be in conflict—one part of you may feel anxious and hyper-vigilant, while another part is calm and nurturing. By learning to acknowledge, listen to, and integrate these parts, you develop inner cohesion and resilience. Through IFS, you can foster a more compassionate relationship with yourself and create balance in the way you respond to stress.
Integrative/Holistic Mental Health Approach
The Integrative or Holistic Mental Health Approach combines evidence-based practices with complementary methods to support healing on all levels—mind, body, and spirit. This approach views mental health as deeply interconnected with physical and emotional wellness, drawing on mindfulness, nutrition, lifestyle habits, and stress-reduction practices to foster resilience and balance. In our work, we explore factors like sleep, exercise, diet, and emotional processing as integral to mental health. Integrative techniques may include elements from traditional therapy, breathwork, meditation, and body-based practices, all aimed at enhancing self-awareness and whole-person wellness. By creating a personalized treatment plan that values all aspects of your health, we help you achieve a balanced, sustainable path to mental well-being.Â
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) is a short-term, evidence-based approach grounded in attachment theory, designed to help clients understand and regulate their emotions. EFIT focuses on identifying and transforming negative emotional patterns rooted in past experiences, often stemming from relationships with caregivers. Through a structured, supportive framework, clients gain insights into their emotional responses, learning to process emotions in healthier ways and develop a more secure sense of self. By enhancing emotional awareness and reshaping responses, EFIT aims to strengthen resilience, promote self-compassion, and build stronger, more fulfilling relationships with others. This approach can help foster deeper self-acceptance, healing attachment wounds, and empowering clients to navigate life’s challenges with greater confidence.Â
Psychoanalytic Therapy
Understanding the past can be an important part of healing from anxiety. Psychoanalytic Therapy helps us explore unconscious patterns and unresolved experiences that may be influencing your current feelings of worry or fear. By becoming more aware of these deeper layers, you can gain insight into longstanding habits and responses. Our sessions provide a safe space to bring these elements to light, fostering greater self-understanding and the ability to let go of unhelpful patterns.
The recent New Scientist article, "The New Evidence That Explains What Anxiety Really Is," delves into groundbreaking insights on how anxiety may arise from miscommunication between the body and brain. For years, anxiety was mostly thought of as a mental health condition, heavily influenced by psychological and environmental factors. However, new research is revealing a more nuanced picture: anxiety could be a result of signals between the brain and body becoming out of sync.
This emerging view proposes that anxiety might stem from a mismatch between the brain’s interpretation of physical sensations (like increased heart rate or muscle tension) and their actual cause. For instance, physical sensations that typically signal danger or stress might occur during neutral situations, and the brain could misinterpret these cues as a sign of anxiety. This “miscommunication” could explain why some people experience heightened anxiety responses to everyday stressors or even without any obvious external trigger.
This perspective shifts the approach to anxiety, opening doors to innovative treatments that aim to re-establish a healthy mind-body connection, possibly through interventions that target the autonomic nervous system or enhance body awareness.
is published in New Scientist Magazine in September of 2024. Many people misunderstand obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as simply a quirky personality trait, but for those who live with it, OCD can be deeply disruptive. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is more than just "being particular" or liking things a certain way—it's a condition marked by persistent, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that can spiral out of control.
For example, a parent might notice a young child washing their hands frequently or struggling with "bad thoughts." They may assure them that these habits and thoughts are "normal" and temporary. But for some people, these patterns don’t disappear; they intensify and become overwhelming. For a young adult who has lived with this from childhood, these cycles can be debilitating and challenging to manage alone. Recent research has begun to reveal the many layers and potential causes of OCD, offering hope for new and effective treatments.
The Truth Behind Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Globally, OCD affects between 1 and 3 percent of the population, often appearing during adolescence or early adulthood. Obsessions are often disturbing, intrusive thoughts, while compulsions are behaviors that people use to try to relieve the anxiety triggered by these thoughts. Compulsions provide a temporary sense of relief but often intensify the cycle of anxiety and ritualistic behaviors, making it increasingly difficult to break free.
Research led by Dr. Barbara Sahakian at the University of Cambridge highlights that "compulsive thoughts capture attention and take over because they’ve become a compulsive habit." Unlike everyday habits, compulsions in OCD don’t serve a helpful purpose; they exist only to neutralize the anxiety from obsessive thoughts.
What Science is Telling Us: OCD's Complex Origins
Until recently, OCD was mainly considered a behavioral issue, but researchers now know it’s much more complex. Some potential contributors to OCD include:
Genetics: Variations in certain genes have been identified that may increase a person's vulnerability to OCD.
Brain Function: Certain brain networks, particularly those related to habit formation and emotional regulation, may not function properly in people with OCD. This includes areas like the basal ganglia, which play a role in repetitive behaviors and decision-making.
Immune System Responses: Emerging evidence shows that inflammation, often stemming from immune responses, might exacerbate obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
Gut Microbiome: The bacteria in our gut affect more than just digestion—they are increasingly being linked to brain health. An imbalanced gut microbiome might impact brain function and contribute to OCD symptoms.
New Treatment Horizons for OCD
With this expanding understanding of OCD’s causes, new and promising treatment options are emerging. Traditional treatment approaches, like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP), and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), have been effective for many individuals. However, these treatments don't work for everyone, and they often only reduce symptoms rather than fully eliminating them.
Innovative treatment approaches now being explored include:
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): This involves implanting electrodes in specific brain areas. For those with severe, treatment-resistant OCD, DBS has shown significant potential.
Immunotherapy: New treatments aim to target immune system responses, potentially reducing inflammation that may aggravate OCD symptoms.
Microbiome Therapy: Given the gut-brain connection, researchers are investigating treatments to restore a healthy balance of gut bacteria, which may positively impact OCD symptoms.
Toward Better Understanding and Compassionate Treatment
As science uncovers more about OCD, society's understanding—and empathy—can grow. OCD is a neurological condition, not a personality quirk, and it requires complex, individualized treatment. Each discovery brings new hope for effective treatments that can significantly improve the lives of those with OCD.
This evolving research highlights the importance of viewing OCD through a compassionate, informed lens. By addressing not only the brain but the immune system and gut health, the mental health field is working toward a future where OCD can be more effectively managed—and perhaps even prevented.
Through continued understanding and innovation, the hope is that one day people with OCD will have access to personalized care options that not only reduce symptoms but help them lead a more balanced, fulfilling life.
I have recently read an amazing book by Jonathan Haidt called "Anxious Generation. In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt explores how smartphones and social media have reshaped childhood for Gen Z, born after 1995, resulting in a significant rise in mental health issues. Unlike previous generations, who first encountered social media in late adolescence or adulthood, Gen Z grew up with instant access to online worlds, experiencing puberty with "a portal to an alternative universe in their pockets." This shift has fueled troubling trends in anxiety and depression, especially among girls, due to social comparison and the intense self-presentation required by platforms like Instagram and Snapchat. Social media pressures have replaced real-world interactions, fundamentally altering the adolescent experience.
Haidt likens this shift to sending kids to Mars—an entirely different environment that reshapes their development with little concern for long-term effects. Unlike previous societal changes, the introduction of smartphones was rapid, with minimal safety regulations or mental health considerations. As adolescents spend hours every day scrolling through curated images and videos, their real-world interactions have dwindled, cutting them off from essential social experiences. Reports from parents reveal constant family conflict over device usage, as children learn to bypass monitoring or even threaten self-harm to keep their access, demonstrating the hold that digital environments have on them.
Data on adolescent mental health reflects this troubling change. Between 2010 and 2015, rates of self-harm and suicide among young adolescents surged, especially among girls. By 2021, mental health issues, initially thought to be over-reported due to increased awareness, were confirmed by behavioral data, such as emergency room admissions for self-harm. This rise occurred well before the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that social media, not just global crises or economic stressors, is a primary driver. Studies show that extensive social media use correlates strongly with depression and anxiety, disproportionately affecting young girls due to heightened pressures for beauty, popularity, and social validation.
In Haidt's view, social media's impact on Gen Z has been deeply harmful, creating an "anxious generation" that constantly battles feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. This widespread shift reflects a "Great Rewiring of Childhood," a developmental experiment with consequences that society is only beginning to understand.
