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My Personal Message to You:
“May you always remember your innate beauty and the treasures that lie within you. May you walk toward your own true light with unwavering integrity. When challenges face you, as they assuredly will throughout life, may you meet them with courage that stems from your extraordinary inner strength. When you doubt or feel alone, trust that there are others who will support you and guide you when you call out. May you always remember that you are here for a purpose, and every day of your life you have the incredible opportunity to be true to yourself. May your life be filled with the light of love, integrity, peace, and wisdom.”
My Latest Book
Creating Healthy Relationships From the Inside Out
We have HUGE expectations for finding the perfect partner but are too-often faced with the reality that dating is complicated! I’ve taken the anxiety and stress out of dating with my life-changing new book, Date Smart. The best-friend-in-a- book you’ve been looking for, Date Smart shows you how to make healthy dating simple and achievable. With a focus on helping you embrace your authentic self, Date Smart is an intelligent guide that includes 33 actionable mindset shifts, journaling prompts, and real-life examples. As you create stronger self-esteem and self-awareness, dating becomes fun and empowering. Based on clinical research, my genuine and uncomplicated approach makes healthy dating and relationship building a breeze.
Date Smart offers actionable tips for addressing common dating issues such as:
Low self-confidence, commitment-phobia, starting over, and mistrust
Attachment issues that lead to unhealthy and disastrous relationships
Recognizing and setting healthy boundaries for yourself
Finding authenticity with your sexuality and sexual needs
Identifying and assertively embracing healthy dating dynamics
Knowing when not to date and the upside of opting for periods of self-partnering
Evaluating and responding to relationship red flags
Addressing toxic dating dynamics including ghosting and sexual manipulation
Setting realistic expectations and honest relationship goals
“She shows a way, clearly and with certainty, to shift from fear that can tear a life apart to reimagining the role of fear in life.”
Thomas Moore, New York Times Bestselling Author of Care of the Soul and Ageless Soul
“Self-esteem is grown by facing life and its challenges with dignity, courage, respect, and a learning-based attitude.”
–Dr. Carla Marie Manly, Date Smart –
As a Practicing Psychologist, I Specialize in the Treatment of
Anxiety, Depression, and Relationship Issues
Anxiety, Depression, and Trauma
We live in a very chaotic, stress-filled world. As a result, many women and men suffer from chronic anxiety, depression, and the effects of trauma. While medication can sometimes be very helpful, psychotherapy can help you understand and often resolve the underlying causes of your distress.
Relationships
With busy, stressful lives, we often neglect our most intimate and most vitally important relationships. Interpersonal strife often increases when relationships are left untended, and dysfunctional patterns may take hold.
Family
Many families encounter significant periods of difficulty as natural life transitions occur. It is often difficult for parents to successfully navigate the wide variety of issues and problems that arise as their families grow and change.
Sex and Intimacy
Many individuals and couples struggle unnecessarily with concerns surrounding sexual intimacy. Healthy sexual intimacy is a crucial aspect of relationships, yet there is often a lack of open and honest discussion on this important topic.
Sexuality and Gender Identity
Gender Identity and Sexual Identity issues can be a source of intense personal challenge. From gaining self-understanding to struggling with fears of discrimination, exclusion, and isolation, the journey into gender and sexual identity concerns are sensitive and highly personal.
Referrals
As a psychotherapist, I cannot hope to meet the unique needs of all potential clients; when an individual has presenting needs that might be better served by another therapist, I gladly make referrals.
My Approach
Individuals seeking a psychotherapist are often fearful that they are broken, damaged, or defective; a sense of feeling alone, bruised, and isolated is not uncommon. Those who come to me often carry a burden of guilt or sadness over prior or current life issues. I work with each client in a collaborative, compassionate approach that brings the individual into a new space of comfort and security. The cornerstones of my practice are respect, integrity, and compassion. Each client who comes to me is evaluated and treated as a unique, extraordinary individual. At the first appointment, the client and I review questions and concerns, and we formulate a treatment plan that addresses specific target areas. From this point forward, the client and I work together to move away from old thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that have been damaging and constricting. This is no easy task, yet my clients come to enjoy the challenging, yet highly supportive interplay, that often allows rapid movement into a more satisfying and fulfilled lifestyle.
My collaborative approach is respectful of each individual’s personal challenges. As therapy progresses, I am continuously responsive to the client’s often changing needs. I build rapport and trust with each client-a truly valuable therapeutic relationship. My clients quickly realize that I am nonjudgmental, and they sense my absolute respect for their individuality. What comes forth in each therapy session-in a safe and confidential environment- allows the individual to feel heard, understood, and seen without the unkind eyes of judgment. In what often proves to be the first openly secure and supportive environment ever experienced by the client, I become both guide and witness to the individual’s journey of exploration and self-understanding.