cognitive behavior therapy
My SPECIALTIES
Generalized ANXIETY
Sometimes we get so used to feeling overwhelmed by the demands of life that it starts to feel normal. Worrying about your job, your family, school and the future can be consuming. And all the worrying only makes you feel more stressed and overwhelmed.
Your don't have to live feeling like you are barely keeping your head above water. ​In CBT for generalized anxiety, you will learn to cope with your worries and solve the problems that arise in your life. By changing the thinking patterns that maintain the anxiety cycle and confronting situations that you have been avoiding due to anxiety, you can learn to solve problems, communicate your needs and focus the things that really matter.
OCD is NOT just worrying about cleanliness or liking things organized. You may experience upsetting intrusive thoughts and spend hours trying to reassure yourself that you are not a bad person. You may also worry about causing harm to someone you love, being responsible for something terrible happening, or making a huge mistake.
Together, we will change the way you respond to your intrusive thoughts. With Exposure with Response Prevention and Inference-Based CBT, you will learn to think differently about your thoughts and to be more flexible in how you respond to them. We will test out your fears by going towards situations that you have been avoiding and reducing the behaviors that reinforce the cycle.
Postpartum OCD
For many, pregnancy and the birth of a new baby are times of increased anxiety and worry. Some of the reasons for this are biological, others psychological. If you are finding it difficult to stop worrying about the safety of your child, experiencing upsetting intrusive thoughts, or feel like you are drowning in the pressures of parenthood, you are not alone and CBT can help ease your worries and help you refocus on what's most important.
​
Health ANXIETY
Are you constantly worrying about your health and physical symptoms? Many people who have struggled with health issues (or watched loved ones struggle) naturally worry that something could go wrong. You may feel very vulnerable and pay a lot of attention to your health signs and symptoms out of fear of missing something or getting caught off guard. But you can be conscientious of your health without thinking about it all the time. With CBT, you can learn to think more realistically about your symptoms and trust that you will notice if something is wrong without spending all your energy worrying.
Body Focused Repetitive BEHAVIORS
Cognitive Behavior Therapy can help you change habits like hair pulling or skin picking. We call these Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRBs) and they are very common. A BFRB may be getting in the way of your life if you are no longer doing activities that you love, avoiding relationships, causing pain or harm to your body, or feeling out of control.
​
With CBT, you will acquire a new toolbox of skills and strengthen your motivation to continue the process of changing your habit. This is hard work but so gratifying when you learn you are not at the mercy of your habit and that you have the tools to ride out your urges.
Sleep ANXIETY
If you've ever struggled with sleep, you know how it interferes with all aspects of their life. Managing the demands of work and parenting, staying focused and coping with stress - everything is so much harder without good sleep.
Many people with insomnia worry about falling or staying asleep and may experience high anxiety as bedtime approaches. This anxiety can make it harder to fall asleep creating a loop that is hard to get out of. The more you don't sleep the more you feel desperate to fall asleep. The more you worry about getting sleep the harder it is to fall asleep.
The good news is that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be more effective than medication in getting your sleep back on track and giving you skills to manage bouts of sleeplessness throughout your life.