My commitment to you
To fully engage in this work with my patients requires steadfast commitment:
- I show up on time, ready to work with an open heart.
- I work as transparently as possible and want patients to participate fully in treatment decisions.
- I embrace the co-creation of each patient’s treatment plan, tailored to their comfort level.
- I prioritize confidentiality and honor patients' and families' courage to start mental health work.
- I encourage patients to be curious about their own experiences.
- I provide direct feedback to help patients see their resilience, recognize their strengths and challenges, and feel empowered to keep growing.
Pills don’t build skills
Medications are a tool to be used judiciously, not as a cure-all. I went into psychiatry focusing on a robust neurobiological program that advocated combining pharmacotherapy with psychotherapies. This is where I learned that relationships change the brain.
I gravitated toward mentors who trained decades before me – an era when they didn’t have all the medications available today. Instead, they relied on tools such as clinical interviewing and building deep patient relationships that allow people to be emotionally safe while facing some of their greatest challenges.
Child and adolescent psychiatry is particularly interesting to me because childhood is the most vulnerable time of life, and a time of natural curiosity and rapid growth. Even minor adaptations in a child or teen's understanding of themselves, parenting approach, or educational support can lead to significant changes in their present experience and accumulate over time as they continue to develop.
It can be hard to find your way out of the forest when you can’t see the path
Understanding how our body and mind are interconnected helps us recognize when they are in balance or when we need to rebalance. While we don’t always have a choice in our demanding job or work-life balance, we can use tools to increase our resilience to chronic stress. We can build resilience by bringing curiosity and compassion to our present-moment experience, creating a space that allows us to see different perspectives. This gives us more choice in how we respond.
When patients are curious about what their symptoms are communicating, it brings about a deeper understanding of how the brain evolved to function and how it works best when all the parts are integrated or working together in a balanced way.
Our lived experiences may establish patterns of reactivity in the mind and body, and we can learn how to recognize emotional states and access different pathways in our minds and bodies, leading to improved emotional regulation.
Learning to recognize and name our feelings allows us to find ways to use our body and mind to relax and feel safe again. I work with patients to do just that: recognize and name what we’re dealing with, then identify a suite of tools to increase resilience.
Pathways to healing
As there are many pathways to healing, we start with a comprehensive assessment, evaluate the options, and create a roadmap. With each patient, I’m there on the journey with them as we craft together a route that works for their needs.
Pathways to healing
Lifestyle
Relationship Dynamics
Restorative Sleep
Nutrition
Physical Activity
Learned Behaviors
Screen Time
Relationship with Nature
Body
Brain Optimization
Metabolic Regulation
Gut-Brain Connection
Immune Modulation
Trauma Integration
Mind
Relationship with our Self
Awareness of Present Experience
Thought Patterns
Identity
Trauma Integration
Spirituality
Meaning-Making
Connection
Grief