Why I do this work
I came to this work the long way. Before therapy, I spent nearly a decade building and leading marketing and strategy teams. Then, in my thirties, I changed direction entirely and went back to school for it. That decision grew out of my own years in therapy: the slow, sometimes uncomfortable work of questioning beliefs about myself I'd taken for granted, and taking responsibility for what I actually wanted to change.
I know what it's like to feel that something is missing without being able to name it: to carry grief, to navigate a hard transition, and to do the real work of understanding your own patterns. I don't think you have to have walked an identical road to help someone. But I do think it matters to have taken the work seriously yourself.
What I believe about getting stuck
Most people don't get stuck because they're broken, or because they aren't trying. They get stuck because of the parts of their story they take for granted: assumptions about themselves and the world that were built so early they're hard to even see. You can tell the same story a hundred times and never notice the belief sitting underneath it.
A good therapist helps you see it. In my own therapy, the turning point was always the same: I'd be telling a story, certain of how it ended, and my therapist would ask, "but wait, what about this?" And suddenly a different ending was possible. That's most of the work: finding the blind spots, questioning the story you've been telling yourself, and recalibrating the inner compass you use to decide what you actually want.
There's a bigger layer to this, too. The beliefs we inherit don't come only from our families. They come from the culture around us: messages about gender, race, class, and what each of us is supposed to want, tolerate, or become. Understanding the forces that shaped you, including the ones larger than your family, is what lets you decide what you actually want to carry forward.
How I work
My approach is relational and systemic, which is what "marriage and family therapy" really means. It isn't only for married people or families; it's a rigorous way of understanding people through their relationships and the systems they grew up in. I draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy, Internal Family Systems, attachment-based, and narrative approaches, but the throughline is consistent: we name the pattern, find the blind spots, and build practical change out of real understanding.
I'm warm, but I'm direct. I'll listen closely, and I'll also tell you what I actually see. Therapy with me tends to feel exploratory and collaborative: energizing more often than not, hard when it needs to be, and aimed squarely at the life you're trying to build. This isn't about being coddled or talked in circles. It's real work, grounded in a real body of knowledge, and the investment compounds.
Background & training
- Master of Family Therapy, Thomas Jefferson University.
- 375+ hours of supervised therapy with individuals, couples, and families at Council for Relationships in Philadelphia.
- Trained in systemic assessment and attachment-informed, experiential, and narrative interventions (EFT, IFS, attachment-based family therapy, narrative, and CBT).
- A prior career leading marketing and strategy teams, which keeps my work practical and goal-oriented.
- Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (PA License #AMF000157), practicing under the clinical supervision of Jacqueline Hudak, Ph.D., LMFT (PA License #MF000752).