What you can expect from our work

Am I  a good fit for your needs and goals?

The decision to seek out therapy often comes from a place of pain or dissatisfaction. Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed, lost, numb, or stuck in patterns that seem impossible to change. Maybe something inside you knows that life isn’t supposed to feel this hard, but you’re not sure how to shift it. If you’re here, reading this, it’s likely because part of you is ready – for something different, something deeper, something more honest. My role is to walk with you into the heart of your experience, helping you uncover what’s holding you back, and guide you toward lasting change, a sense of peace, and genuine growth.

You may be someone who knows how to hold yourself together. You show up, push through, care for others, and keep moving even when something inside you is hurting. On paper, everything looks good. But internally, there may be a heaviness you can’t put into words – an ache you don’t understand, a longing for deeper connection, or a sense that you’re living in a way that doesn’t give you what you need.

When you’ve spent a lifetime being capable, you’ve learned how to make pain look invisible. You know how to stay strong, competent, insightful – never asking for help, rarely falling apart – and the world rewards you for it. Yet the very strengths that help you survive can quietly keep you from being fully seen. You might find yourself repeating old patterns of overthinking, caretaking, performing, minimizing your needs, or craving closeness while keeping people just far enough away that they can’t really land.

Therapy with me isn’t about learning how to hold even more. It’s about helping you feel real – more you. We create space for what has gone quiet inside: the emotions you’ve silenced to keep the peace, the needs you’ve learned to downplay, the parts of you that felt they never had permission to be here. Together, we begin listening to the you that hasn’t known it’s allowed to exist, thrive, belong, and be loved.

As we deepen this work, we begin to explore what I call the hidden architecture of identity and connection. None of us develop our emotional lives or sense of self in a vacuum. We grow up within systems – families, cultures, beliefs, expectations – that shape us from the inside out. Your lived experiences send messages about who you’re allowed to be, how close you let people get, how much space your needs can take, and how safe it is to show emotion. Over time, this inner blueprint dictates the terms of your life, often outside your conscious awareness: don’t overwhelm anyone with your feelings; perform and you’ll be valued; needing too much will make you a burden; independence keeps you safe; if you don’t show vulnerability, no one can hurt you.

These internal rules aren’t flaws. They are brilliant and intelligent responses – ways of coping, adapting, protecting, and surviving. They helped you succeed, stay connected to others as best you could, and make sense of your world. But when they become the only way you know how to live, the flaws in your internal structure start to play out, limiting your intimacy, freedom, rest, the ability to feel known, your relationship with your own emotions, and sense of self-worth.

Therapy is where we slowly and safely begin to renovate this inner architecture. Not by tearing your strategies down, but by honoring their logic, understanding why they were needed, and creating space for new ways of being that allow you to stay connected to yourself and let yourself be known to important others.

This work is transformational, not performative. It doesn’t ask you to work harder, but to be in fuller contact with your internal world. It doesn’t require perfection, just honest presence. It doesn’t try to replace your old ways of surviving; it helps you grow beyond them. You won’t lose your edge or drive, but come to know what it means to live outside of survival. To decide what still serves you, and what it’s time to let go of. To find your voice. To feel safe in your body. To connect, rest, create, and choose – freely and consciously.

As we make space for feelings that have been hidden, for needs you’ve muted to stay acceptable, for longings that once felt unavailable, it becomes possible to feel at home in your own life and live as more fully your whole Self.

From this place, external change starts to ripple out. Relationships become more reciprocal. Boundaries become clearer and kinder. You feel clearer about what you want and need. Your nervous system learns to experience safety. Closeness becomes a resource rather than a threat. You can let yourself be known without hustling, working harder, or abandoning yourself.

This isn’t just about self-improvement. It’s about reclamation. It’s not about becoming someone new. It’s coming home to who you were always meant to be—before the wounds, the roles, the pressure, and the pain. Together, we’ll sit with the truth of who you are, steady, courageous, and curious, as you scaffold out a relationship with yourself that feels honest, spacious, loving, and alive.

As you transform, new possibilities show up – new ways of being in your relationships, your work, your identity, and your life. That’s the beauty of this process: as you grow, new doors open. I specialize in helping you walk through them—toward new ways of living, loving, and leading.

I offer therapy that is not only highly specialized but deeply human. My approach is holistic  – relational, attachment-based, trauma-informed, and somatic. I pay close attention to the ways your past relationships, family history, identity, culture, and life experiences have shaped your nervous system, your beliefs, your worth, and your maps for connection.

I offer compassion, presence, and belief – in your potential, your strength, and your capacity to heal. I help you explore the origins of your struggles, stay organized and compassionate through the hard parts, and move with intention toward clarity, transformation, and wholeness. This kind of work can lead to lasting change, authentic growth, and a stronger sense of who you are.

If something in you is tired of being strong and longs to feel whole instead, I’m honored to work with you.

My Treatment Approach

What underpins my work

I believe the most meaningful thing I bring to this work is my wholehearted, ongoing commitment to three things: deep presence, lifelong learning, and personal integration. For over two decades, I’ve devoted myself to the art and practice of therapy—not just through advanced training, supervision, and consultation, but by listening closely to what truly helps my clients, and also what helped me in my own healing.

My decision to become a therapist wasn’t just about serving others—it was also about making sense of my own life. From the beginning, I knew this calling was personal. I’ve spent years doing the difficult, tender work of facing my own story—especially my early experiences—so I could show up as someone grounded, whole, and free. I believe deeply that doing my own healing is a sacred part of being able to support others in theirs.

My clinical foundation rests on well-established, evidence-based models rooted in family systems, attachment, trauma, intergenerational patterns, and somatic psychotherapy. I rely on these approaches not just because they’re research-backed, but because I have had the experience—time and time again—that they help people create real, integrated, and lasting change.

Alongside my work with clients, I’ve also poured my energy into supporting other therapists. I’ve always been drawn to the process of what it means to become a therapist—how much growth, vulnerability, and inner work it requires. Over the past ten years, I’ve developed a framework called The Parallel Process™ (trademark pending), designed to help therapists thrive. It’s a model that provides the structure, clarity, and support we all need to grow into the most authentic and effective versions of ourselves—in service to our clients, our craft, our growth, and our calling.

It includes the important process of Person-of-the-Therapist or Self-of-the-Therapist work. As therapy is fundamentally a human-to-human encounter, we must also engage in our own process of exploration, processing, and organizing our lived experiences. We must be mindful of mitigating the impact our own ‘stuff’ could have on the client’s experience. 

This model shapes everything I do at The Center for Connection, Healing and Change. It shows up in how I work with clients, our team, and how I support therapists and leaders outside of the practice to reach their professional and personal potential.

If you’re a person longing for your next phase of growth, someone tired of holding everything together alone, or you choose to live in a helping or healing role – I’m here for you Whether you’re burned out, at a crossroads, or just feeling that quiet pull toward something more meaningful, we can explore what healing and expansion look like for you now.

Originally from England, I moved to the U.S. over 16 years ago to build a life with my (now retired) military husband. We have three precious children who challenge and inspire me every day to live with more honesty, presence, and vulnerability. They are a daily reminder of why I do this work—and why breaking cycles, showing up with love, and healing from the inside out matter so deeply.

I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Virginia, Washington D.C, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. I earned my BSc in Psychology from the University of Leeds in England and a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Southern Mississippi—a training experience that truly changed my life. I’ll always be grateful to the mentors who saw me, pushed me, and helped shape the therapist I’ve become.

To schedule a free phone consultation with me and see if we might be a good fit, please call (703) 878-3290 or click here