Therapists in Pittsburgh, PA

Many come to therapy to change patterns of relating to others and themselves that they feel no longer serve them. I believe that these patterns, hard as they may be now, likely played some important role for you in the past. Perhaps addictions, habits, or defenses met otherwise unmet needs in your life, but now have become limiting and compulsive. I see myself as your partner in a process of deep listening, a process which facilitates growth, healing, and new possibilities for relating to your self and others. Specialties and modalities include: Clinical Hypnosis, gender therapy, trauma, addictions. Also see my group therapy option.

Accepting new clients! You're exhausted from not feeling worthy of the space you occupy. You're tired of holding everything in, and terrified to be your authentic self. You're a WHOLE person... not a symptom that needs to be cured. You've never been able to truly process all of the big emotions and 'stuff' you carry around because they have either been 'too much' or minimized. Or, shame has held you back. But it's becoming too heavy to carry on your own. With a little work and support, it IS possible to strip them of their power.

We offer neurofeedback and other cognitive training processes to address ADD/ADHD, anxiety, focus issues, help with sleep, and other problems due to dysregulation in the brain.

My focus as a therapist is to assist my clients in recognizing their strengths and using them to become the best person they can be. I specialize in working with the LGBT community on a variety of issues and am a sex-positive therapist. I use a trauma-informed approach with all of my clients and have been helping those who have been through various traumas in their lives throughout my years of practice.

In my individual, couples, and family work, values of collaboration, mutuality, and connection guide my practice. I partner with clients to identify their own unique strengths that can be used as resources to foster growth and change. I am attentive to the role of early family experiences, cultural values, oppression, and stigma in shaping client's experiences. Particularly when addressing painful or traumatic areas, I attend to clients' emotional safety using mindfulness and body awareness. I believe that healing happens in the context of honest relationships and invite my clients to engage in open dialog about our work together.

My therapeutic approach focuses on addressing the ways external factors, namely the client’s environment, experiences, relationships and prior traumas have contributed to their current state. Given the world we live in I bring considerable attention to the ways that systems of oppression play a role in the client’s wellbeing. I believe that having an understanding of how these factors are impacting our mental health is integral to healing. As we work on building this awareness we can start making intentional choices more in line with the lives we would like to be living.

As your therapist, I will help you cultivate self-compassion, curiosity, and courage to confront your life challenges. My work with each client is individualized and collaborative depending on a multitude of client factors. My approach is warm, well-rounded, and authentic. I will ensure that your therapeutic outcomes are meaningful and sustainable. You will feel seen, heard, and supported in every step of our work. I use an integrated trauma-informed, feminist, humanistic, psychoanalytic, relational, and existential approach to therapy that fosters openness and curiosity.

“Yoga means addition—addition of energy, strength, and beauty to body, mind, and soul.”—Amit Ray, Indian author and spiritualist In order to get to the root of what’s causing your discomfort we have to go towards and not away. This is painful but will cause change. I’m going to ask you to share your story with me. But you don’t have to do it alone. I see myself as both a support and a fierce advocate for clients to assist with their growth and navigation through the barriers. Through the addition of support and guidance I can help increase your energy strength and beauty of your self as a whole.

I believe each person has the power to expand their agency and live in more authenticity and alignment with their values. I work with individuals, couples, and families to build upon strengths and lean into growing edges, to find solutions to problems within ones relationship system that you may be struggling to see are there.

At Manifest, we have therapists who specialize in a variety of modalities ranging from CBT, DBT, and EMDR trained and certified therapists, to therapists who offer body oriented, spiritually informed, and depth psychology approaches. Whether you are looking to explore and take an in depth look at your own capacity for healing and awakening, or looking for outcomes based therapies to resolve psychological and emotional blockages, triggers, or traumas that are standing in the way, we are here to help support you in meeting your needs.

Accepting new clients! The world is just... really hard right now. It's difficult to imagine how therapy would even help when the world is on fire. You constantly feel "other", in so many ways, which makes maintaining social and romantic relationships nearly impossible. You know you have a long list of things to process, but have never felt like you've had a truly safe, nonjudgmental space to do that. In order to heal, you know on a visceral level that you need to feel fully accepted, not just tolerated. You are starting to drown from the overwhelming stress, anxiety, neurodiversity, perfectionism, low self-worth, and isolation.

My goal in providing therapy is to promote a judgement free, non-anxious presence so that you can explore and grow in ways that feel right to you. By using a mix of traditional and trauma-informed therapy styles, we will work together towards healing and authenticity. Whether you struggle with abuse, discrimination, anxiety, depression, need to hone your coping skills or discover your future path, we are here for you. Discover a safe, confidential, and friendly place to explore issues that are close to your heart. You are cared for and loved.

Feeling stuck or overwhelmed? Are you feeling unheard in your relationship? Do you struggle with understanding or expressing your gender identity or sexuality? Many of my clients are individuals or couples who are frustrated with patterns that are no longer working for them and are looking for a guide to hold them accountable in reaching their goals.

Currently accepting new clients! Being able to connect with a therapist is hard. Really hard. Especially if you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Am I right? Feeling "other" has become so normal that we often don't even realize we are merely surviving because we don't know there's another way to exist. Stress, shame, and all of the other emotions swirling around create a tornado that is hard to get out of. That's where I come in. I'm a LGBTQIA+, relationship (i.e. CNM), and culturally affirming therapist with lived experience as a queer woman with a trans partner, as well as assisted reproduction and gender-expansive parenting.

Choosing to start therapy takes courage. It's not easy to look within one's self and challenge yourself to change. In our work together, I will support you in your journey towards personal growth, discovery and change. As an Art Therapist, I believe that engaging in the art process has a powerful way of touching the deepest aspects of one's soul. Through creative approaches in therapy, you can connect authentically with yourself and thrive. Regardless of what brings you to therapy, I can help each person use the process to grow.

I see one of the most important roles as a therapist to be putting in the work to earn someone’s trust and walking beside them as an accomplice on their path towards growth. I don’t believe that people are “broken” or “need to be fixed”, but rather that somewhere within every person lies the capacity to generate change. I believe this change begins by finding someone trustworthy to support them through this process. And—that being kinder and gentler towards ourselves goes a long way to building the foundation for this change to occur.

Do you or someone you know need help with issues around gender, sexuality, or alternative relationship lifestyle? If you, your partner or partners, family or community are struggling with any of these issues, the good news is that there are solutions to your challenges! In just a few sessions, you will begin to feel the weight lift and you'll see real world results in tackling these concerns.

I work from the understanding there is a part of us that is already whole and healed. Trauma can skew how we perceive ourselves and the world. Through therapy, we both tend to the hurt parts of ourselves and also cultivate an access point to the whole, healed self. We practice ushering our habitual emotional and mental patterns into our awareness in order to remove blockages to allow us to be the person we’d love to be and to live the life we’d love to live.

You wake up exhausted, dreading the day ahead before you’ve even opened your eyes. You can’t tell if you’re hungry or sad or anxious or mad–maybe you’re all of those at once. You hide your truest self in exchange for acceptance and love. You struggle to say “no,” even when you know you need to, because the cost of disappointing others is greater than the cost of disappointing yourself. The world feels overwhelming–too fast, too bright, too unpredictable. Your brain tells you that if only you were stronger, tried harder, were less sensitive–the list goes on and on. If only–then maybe, if you were different, life would be easier.