Child, Adolescent & Family Psychotherapist

There's a dream that many people report having, and maybe you've had it, too: you're walking through your house, and discover a hidden room. In this dream, the room has been there all along — you just hadn't climbed the stairs or opened the door before. People who have this dream often report feeling exhilarated when they wake up, and may even be convinced for a few moments that the extra room really exists.

What's exciting about the dream is the sense of possibility and potential — and I think it's also what's exciting about the psychotherapy process. In the presence of someone who listens to you, challenges you, and supports you, you discover what you really think, what you really feel, what you really want. And you discover what has been there all along — you just had to open the door.

People come to psychotherapy for so many reasons: anxiety, depression, loss, illness, life transition, addictions, family crisis, trouble in relationships, distress at work. All of these give us opportunities to reach inside ourselves and create something new out of our struggles. In individual psychotherapy, my goal is to help you build on strengths you already have, and find a path to healing and balance. In family psychotherapy, my goal is to help you build the kind of relationship you want to have with your child — and to make that bond a source of joy, warmth and strength for both of you for the rest of your lives. My psychotherapeutic approach is primarily psychodynamic — gently bringing forward the things that go on in the unconscious, and helping clients explore current relationships in the light of their earliest ones.

My experience also includes work with children, adolescents and adults who struggle with serious mental illness and behavioral challenges.

I am licensed as a professional counselor in the Commonwealth of Virginia and in Washington, DC, and also hold national certification from the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC). I am a member of the American Counseling Association, the American Mental Health Counselors Association, the International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors, and the Association for Play Therapy. I am also a graduate of the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy training program at the Washington School of Psychiatry.

Contact / Additional office

Phone: 202.489.4900
Email: Inquiry@DCPsychotherapy.com

Alexandria Office
1202 Prince St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
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Specialties

I use a humanistic or psychodynamic approach to work with children, adolescents and adults. My specialties include:

Children and adolescents:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• School problems
• Bullying
• Social skills
• Explosive and disruptive behaviors
• Sibling rivalry
• Family crisis or transition

Adults:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Parenting
• Bereavement, loss
• Illness
• Relationships and couples counseling
• Work/career
• Retirement
• Helping elderly parents

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