Areas of work · Psychotherapy
The changes we live through.
I work with adults and couples facing a range of difficulties, with a particular interest in the ways relationships, loss, and life transitions alter how we understand ourselves.
Parenthood.Relationships.Loss.Identity.
03 / Areas of work
A place to begin
What brings someone to therapy?
Sometimes it is something quite specific: the birth of a child, a painful change in a relationship, the death of someone close, or a sense that work and personal life no longer fit together in the same way. At other times, the difficulty is harder to locate. We may recognize that certain feelings or conflicts keep returning without fully understanding why.
These experiences do not fit neatly into separate categories. What follows describes some of the concerns that often become part of my work with people, rather than a complete list of problems I treat.
Becoming a parent can also mean encountering parts of ourselves we hadn’t expected.
01 — Parenthood
Becoming a parent.
Parenthood can bring joy and purpose alongside uncertainty, ambivalence, or a sense of loss for an earlier version of one’s life. Changes in time, intimacy, responsibility, and the relationship with a partner can raise questions that are difficult to anticipate.
It may also bring one’s own childhood and relationship with parents into sharper focus. I have a particular interest in working with men as they consider what becoming a parent means to them, and how they wish to inhabit that role.
Other concerns
Different experiences, often connected.
02 / RELATIONSHIPS
Intimacy and connection.
We may find ourselves repeating familiar ways of relating: pulling away when closeness feels possible, struggling with conflict, or finding it difficult to ask for what we need. Therapy can offer a place to consider these patterns and the experiences that give them meaning.
03 / GRIEF & LOSS
Living with loss.
Loss can change not only how we feel, but how we understand our lives and relationships. Grief is not always straightforward, and it may bring forward feelings that seem contradictory or difficult to speak about. Our work can make room for those complexities.
04 / IDENTITY & TRANSITION
Questions of who we are.
Changes in work, creative life, relationships, or family roles can unsettle a sense of identity that once felt familiar. I am interested in how people negotiate competing wishes and expectations, particularly when an old way of living no longer seems to fit.
05 / RECURRING DIFFICULTIES
Patterns that persist.
Sometimes anxiety, low mood, self-criticism, or a general sense of dissatisfaction persists even when outward circumstances appear relatively stable. Rather than treating these feelings in isolation, we can look more closely at how they have come to take shape in a particular life.
How I understand the work
Beyond a list of symptoms.
What initially brings someone to therapy is not always what becomes most important as the work develops. I approach these concerns psychodynamically, with attention to personal history, emotional life, and the relationships through which we have come to know ourselves.
I work with adults of varied backgrounds, including couples, and have a particular interest in men navigating significant changes in their lives. You can read more about my approach and what working together may involve.
Read about my approach ↗︎Beginning a conversation.
I offer in-person psychotherapy in Pasadena and online throughout California. An initial consultation allows us to discuss what brings you to therapy and whether my approach feels like a good fit.