FAQ

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are both effective approaches for treating depression, each working in distinct but complementary ways.

CBT focuses on breaking the cycle of negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that fuel depression. It identifies unhelpful thought patterns and explores how they shape emotions and actions, and how they may be rooted in long-standing beliefs about yourself.  When we understand and challenge these beliefs and patterns we can improve mood and reduce depressive symptoms.

EMDR addresses the emotional impact of past experiences that may still be affecting you. Through bilateral stimulation, such as eye movements, EMDR helps the brain reprocess difficult memories, reducing their emotional weight. This can lead to relief from the lingering effects of past trauma and help lift the emotional burden that contributes to depression.

Together, CBT and EMDR offer a holistic approach to depression, targeting both current thought patterns and the deeper emotional roots of the condition.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the gold standard in anxiety treatment.  It starts with building an understanding of how past experiences and current beliefs created and maintain anxiety. Together, we look at how anxiety affects your life and explore the factors contributing to it, such as stress, relationships, and work. We’ll also identify unhelpful thought patterns that keep the anxiety going. Exposure therapy, a necessary part of any anxiety treatment, will help you learn to gradually and safely face the situations or thoughts that trigger your anxiety.  We’ll also develop practical tools, like relaxation techniques and mindfulness, to manage anxiety in your daily life.

Yes, I specialize in helping individuals through significant life transitions. Feeling overwhelmed during times of change is completely natural. In therapy, we’ll explore your feelings, clarify your goals, and create an actionable plan to navigate these changes with confidence and clarity.

Yes, therapy can be very helpful for parents navigating challenges with family life. Parenting often brings up its own stresses, but it can also trigger deeper, unresolved emotions or wounds from childhood. These past experiences may influence how you respond to your children, partner, or family, sometimes in ways that feel overwhelming or unhelpful.

In therapy, there’s an opportunity to explore these connections between your past and your current parenting struggles.  In our work, we also can address practical strategies to improve communication, set boundaries, and manage daily stresses, and review and respond to developmental norms and stages appropriately so you can parent with more confidence and calm.

 By addressing both current family challenges and the deeper emotional roots that may contribute to them, therapy can provide a clear path toward a healthier family life and a more balanced approach to parenting.

Yes!  Although as kids get older, they get more input as to the amount of involvement of their parents.  Young adults often choose not to have supporting adults involved in their treatment.

Yes, I offer remote therapy sessions via secure video conferencing platforms. This allows you to engage in therapy from the comfort of your own space, making it more accessible and convenient. The process is similar to in-person sessions—we schedule a time, connect over video, and work together in a confidential setting.

I started my first website because of this question.  I wanted kids to see pictures of my office and me before they came in.  Many kids have all kinds of misinformation about what therapy is, but my site can at least show them what I look like and give them a sense of the space where we meet.

I recommend letting your child know that my job as a therapist is to work with them to help them with worries or sadness- whatever the issue is that is getting in the way.  I also recommend letting them know I have done this work for a long time, and I will not judge them or be surprised by anything they say.  I have worked with many kids, and they are not alone in their struggles.  Other kids have also gone through it, and together we will figure out ways to help them feel better.

During the pandemic, I learned that online therapy can be very effective. However, I do not offer online therapy for kids under 12 years. And, if I'm honest, I always prefer to have you in the office and face to face.

I offer virtual therapy in the states in which I am licensed: VA, MD, DC, NY, and MA.

Yes!  CBT emphasizes collaboration and ongoing effort outside of the therapy session.  Clients are regularly assigned homework to gather data, practice skills, and generalize behaviors.

Kids in CBT often need some assistance from their parents to help identify and record this information (but adults are on their own!).  Studies have shown that people who actively practice and record information outside the sessions have better results.