Individual Psychotherapy
In-person in San Luis Obispo, CA
and virtually worldwide
You may find yourself considering therapy when you feel stuck — when something isn't shifting despite your best efforts to understand or change it.
Perhaps you've tried self-help books, journaling, or even other forms of therapy, and still sense that something is missing. Not because you haven't tried hard enough, but perhaps because what's shaping your inner life hasn't yet been fully understood.
When familiar strategies stop working, it often signals that something is needing more thoughtful attention.
Our work together focuses on making sense of all that is going on inside of you including how certain patterns formed, why they persist, and how they (often unconsciously) organize your relationships, choices, and sense of self. Over time, this kind of understanding creates room to live with more internal freedom and less self-loathing and pain.
I approach this work with care, seriousness, and deep respect for what change actually asks of a person — and I offer an inviting space where nothing has to be rushed or simplified.
Specialties
I work with individuals from all walks of life who are longing to feel more whole, more known, more deeply themselves.
My practice is intentionally small. I work this way so that each therapeutic relationship receives the time, care, and clinical presence it deserves. This allows me to remain deeply engaged in the work, to move at a pace that honors complexity, and to ensure that what we are building together is both clinically sound and relationally attuned.
I welcome those who may not have had the opportunity—or permission—to explore what it means to truly feel. To grieve. To question. To reclaim.
Together, we will slow down. We will make room for what has been hidden, silenced, or deemed “too much.” The ways you learned to endure, adapt, protect, and survive. Through careful attention and sustained inquiry, we move toward a life that feels more grounded, more integrated, and unmistakably yours.
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A diagnosis can name what you're feeling. It rarely explains why. Anxiety is not just worry — it is often the psyche's way of signaling that something important is being avoided, unfelt, or unresolved. Depression is not just sadness — it can be grief with nowhere to go, anger turned inward, or a self that has gone quiet after years of not being fully seen. Rather than focusing solely on managing symptoms, we work to understand what they are trying to communicate — and create room for something more lasting than relief.
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Trauma isn't always a single event. Sometimes it's the accumulation of what happened, what didn't happen, and what you had to become in order to survive it. If you've spent your life managing an inner world that feels fragmented, exhausting, or impossible to explain — and have found that insight alone hasn't been enough to change it — this work is designed to go there with you. We move at a pace that honors your nervous system, building the kind of steady, trusting relationship in which the parts of you that were never fully seen can finally be known.
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If you've struggled with food or your body for a long time, you may already know a great deal about yourself — and still find yourself caught in the same painful patterns. I understand eating disorders not as behaviors to eliminate, but as meaningful psychological adaptations, often connected to self-worth, emotional regulation, and early relational experiences. Rather than approaching the eating disorder as the problem, we approach it with curiosity about the role it has played — and work toward a more stable sense of self and a less punishing relationship with your body.
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The worthiness wound is a framework I developed to describe a deep, often unconscious sense of being fundamentally flawed, undeserving, or unlovable — one that typically forms early in life and quietly shapes everything: your relationships, your choices, how much you allow yourself to receive, how hard you work to earn your place in the world. We don't work on self-worth by repeating affirmations or challenging negative thoughts. We work by going to the roots — and building something more stable from the inside out.
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Knowing how therapy works does not protect you from needing it. Sometimes it makes it harder. Many helpers arrive in therapy highly self-aware, and yet that self-awareness can become its own obstacle — a way of staying one step removed from the vulnerability that real change requires. This is a space where you can stop being the one who understands everything and simply be the one who is trying to understand yourself. Most clinicians, regardless of their own orientation, seek out psychoanalytic therapy for themselves — and for good reason.
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Being in your late teens or twenties can feel like everyone around you has figured something out that you haven't. The pressure to form an identity, build a life, navigate relationships, and become an adult — often all at once — is enormous. And yet very few spaces take that difficulty seriously rather than dismissing it as normal growing pains. This work is built on the belief that the loneliness, anxiety, and uncertainty of this life stage are not phases to be waited out, but experiences worth understanding now — before the patterns calcify and become harder to see.
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The patterns we carry into our closest relationships rarely begin there. They begin much earlier — in the first relationships we ever had, the ones that taught us what love feels like, what safety means, and what we have to do to be chosen. Whether you're struggling with intimacy, trust, conflict, or a recurring dynamic you can't seem to escape, this work looks beneath the surface to understand what is really happening — and creates room for new ways of relating that feel more honest and more chosen.
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The pressures women navigate are not abstract. They are daily, embodied, and cumulative — the expectation to be endlessly available while tending to your own ambitions, your body, and your sense of self. Many of the women I work with appear, from the outside, to have it together. Inside, something different is happening. This is a space to be honest about what it costs to hold everything — and to develop a relationship with yourself that is less conditional, less punishing, and more fully yours.
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Grief is not only the response to death. It is the response to any significant loss — of a relationship, a version of yourself, a future you had imagined, a life that didn't unfold the way you hoped. And yet our culture gives us very little space to grieve fully, or for long. This work takes loss seriously — not as something to move through or get over, but as an experience that deserves to be sat with, understood, and mourned. There is no timeline here. Only attention, and the belief that grief, when held carefully, can become a doorway to a deeper relationship with what matters most.
Specialties Include:
My Approach
This work is not just what I do — it's been part of my own healing. That's why I believe in it so fully.
For almost two decades, I've been devoted to understanding the human psyche, including my own. I come to this work with genuine awe for what it asks of both of us: honesty, courage, and the willingness to sit with what we often turn away from. It is no small thing to be trusted with someone's inner world. I hold that trust with deep care.
My approach is grounded in contemporary psychoanalytic principles — one of the oldest, deepest, and most empirically supported frameworks for creating meaningful, lasting psychological change. While I draw on other modalities when useful (CBT, somatic work, mindfulness, family systems), psychoanalytic thinking forms the backbone of how I understand people and what makes them who they are.
What that means in practice: our work will be highly tailored and unhurried. We'll explore how certain patterns formed and why they persist. We'll pay attention to what lives just outside your awareness — the feelings that get pushed aside, the parts of you that learned to go quiet, the ways the past continues to organize your present.
Rather than offering strategies to manage your experience from the outside, we work to understand it from within.
You're a complex person with a profound inner life. You deserve a therapy that holds your multitudes with curiosity — not a framework that flattens them.
This kind of work takes time, and it asks something of you. But what it gives back is not just relief from symptoms — it's a deeper relationship with yourself, a greater capacity to feel and to choose, and a life that feels more unmistakably your own.
01 Feel it Out
Once you complete the form below, I’ll reach out to schedule a free 15–20 minute consultation call. This is a chance for us to connect, discuss what you're looking for, and see if we’re a good fit. I welcome any questions you may have. If it feels right on both ends, we’ll move forward and schedule your first full session.
02 Get started
Our initial 50-minute session is a space for us to get to know each other more deeply. We’ll explore what’s bringing you in, begin mapping out your goals, and determine if working together feels aligned. We’ll also agree on a fee, session frequency (typically once or twice a week), and a consistent meeting time.
03 Dive In
Psychoanalytic therapy unfolds gradually and thoughtfully. If we choose to continue, we’ll enter into a committed process of meeting regularly and exploring your inner world over time. This ongoing work allows us to access deeper insights, make meaningful connections, and build the kind of steady, trusting relationship that supports real psychological growth.
If you are interested in working together, please click the button below to complete the contact form and I will be in touch:
FAQ
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The initial consultation is a brief check-in where I will gather some background information to assess if I can assist you effectively. It’s also an opportunity for you to ask questions and if you have any concerns about starting therapy, please let me know so we can discuss them. We’ll also cover logistical details. If we decide to proceed, we will schedule a 50-minute session. If not, I’m happy to provide referrals to others who may be a better fit.
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My standard rate for therapy is $265 per session.
That said, I recognize that financial circumstances vary, and I am open to discussing a fee that is sustainable for you on an ongoing basis.
My goal is to earn a living wage while remaining accessible to a diverse range of clients. I invite each client to consider a fee that reflects both their financial reality and the depth of work we are engaging in together. The lowest I currently slide is $185.
For those with greater financial flexibility, paying the full rate supports my ability to offer reduced fees to individuals who face structural and economic barriers to accessing care. This approach helps ensure that therapy remains available to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. If you would like to discuss sliding scale options, please reach out, and we can explore what feels both fair and feasible.
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I am currently offering in-person and virtual therapy (California + worldwide). My office is located in downtown San Luis Obispo, CA. For virtual therapy, I use a secure videoconferencing platform and your confidentiality will be held in the utmost regard.
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The initial sessions focus on determining if we are a good fit and how I can best support you. During this time, you’ll have the opportunity to share your story and what has led you to therapy. We’ll explore the issues you want to address and establish a mutual understanding of the therapy’s goals and how to achieve them. Our collaboration will help us find the most effective way to work together.
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Every session and every patient is unique.
However, I want you to know that you will be encouraged to speak freely, and I will help you explore the underlying meanings behind your thoughts and feelings. Nothing is off-limits. As we work together, we’ll begin to notice that the struggles you face outside therapy often emerge within the therapeutic relationship. This is because our earliest relationships shape how we understand ourselves and interact with others. Since this relational template is deeply ingrained, it can be challenging to recognize on our own. By putting words to our present experiences, we can explore new ways of relating and being understood. Through this process of self-awareness and collaborative repair, we work towards feeling more integrated and whole.
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I’ve chosen not to accept insurance to prioritize the quality and integrity of the work I do with my clients. Insurance often imposes restrictions on the type and length of treatment, which can limit the depth and flexibility needed for meaningful, lasting change. It also requires a mental health diagnosis to justify treatment, which may not align with the complexities of a person’s experiences or their goals for therapy. By working outside of the constraints of insurance, I can focus fully on providing care that is tailored to each individual’s unique needs, honoring the time and space necessary for a thoughtful and collaborative process.
However, I am happy to offer you a monthly super bill for you to submit to your insurance company if your policy provides out-of-network coverage (Most PPO's do so check your policy!)
If you have insurance and would like to seek reimbursement, it may be helpful for you to ask the following questions to your insurance company before starting our work together:
* Do I have mental health insurance benefits?* Does my policy offer out-of-network coverage? What percentage of my bill will be reimbursed from an out-of-network provider?
* Do I have a deductible for mental health?
* How many sessions are covered per calendar year?
* Do I have a co-payment?
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The relationship between therapist and patient is crucial, and finding the right match is essential for effective therapy. Sometimes, it takes a bit of trial and error to find a therapist who truly fits your needs. Over the years, I’ve worked with many patients who have faced challenges with previous therapists for various reasons. If you’ve been disappointed with other treatments, I’d be happy to discuss whether working together might be a good fit for you.
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Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a thoughtful, research-supported approach to understanding yourself more fully. With over a hundred years of clinical tradition and modern evidence to back it, this form of therapy is known for its depth and effectiveness in addressing a wide range of concerns—like anxiety, depression, relationship patterns, trauma, and more.
Rather than offering quick fixes or surface-level strategies, psychoanalytic therapy is about exploring the deeper layers of your experience: your emotions, unconscious motivations, past relationships, and inner conflicts. By paying close attention to what’s often just outside of awareness, you can begin to make sense of patterns that may have felt confusing or limiting. In a consistent, trusting therapeutic relationship, this process opens up new ways of thinking, feeling, and relating—to yourself and to others. The result is often a greater sense of clarity, agency, and connection in your life.
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Choosing to prioritize your mental health can be a huge undertaking. You may have all sorts of thoughts and feelings about the fee, the time commitment, and what may be asked of you. I remember being nervous too when I first started. However, we never quite know where the process will take us until we start. And the thing about psychotherapy is that you won't have to figure it out alone. You are welcome to reach out with any questions by completing the form above and I will get back to you soon.