Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapists in Northampton, MA

As a psychologist with over twenty-five years of experience, I enjoy working with adults of diverse ages and backgrounds. I have a special interest in helping people who identify as highly sensitive or anxious, and who have received messages that their feelings and reactions are “wrong” or “too much.” I help clients embrace the many gifts of being sensitive while also navigating a world that often feels harsh and invalidating. I provide a warm, connecting, and honest space for you to access your essential strengths and overcome barriers to living a rich, meaningful life.

I practice from a trauma informed and relational cultural perspective that places high value on the relationship between therapist and client. Through an authentic, mutual, and collaborative approach I help my clients focus on the history of their relationships and how these relationships have lead to growth and fulfillment and/or isolation and suffering. I view every person as inherently whole and thus aim to lighten the emotional burdens that leave individuals feeling incomplete, broken, and/or dispirited.

Good therapy helps us shift from feeling blocked by internal conflicts and fears to having a transformative relationship with ourselves and others. Mindfulness and IFS are two highly effective approaches to help access beneficial qualities of mind, even in difficult circumstances. I have successfully helped clients with a wide range of issues for 15 years, and have taught and supervised students in these techniques.

Specializing in the treatment of ADHD, my practice emphasizes the development of practical skills and coping strategies to improve overall executive functioning, as well as helping client's build their understanding of the impact that ADHD has on attention, impulsivity, self-esteem, procrastination, and motivation. I also work with clients experiencing depression, anxiety, and trauma, with treatment aiming to help clients identify the barriers keeping them from their goals and designing interventions that promote a more positive sense of self.

MY PRACTICE IS CURRENTLY FULL. Supporting people during the prenatal, pregnancy and postpartum phases of life is my area of specialty. I also work with people who are living with infertility. The transition into parenthood can be emotionally complex and can lead to pregnancy or postpartum depression and anxiety. Before becoming a parent, there is the desire and decision to make a baby. For some, this phase is painfully long and can feel like an emotional roller coaster. In the postpartum, parent support is another aspect of my work. If you are experiencing difficulties such as these, please consider contacting me for support.

Unresolved trauma and loss can have a huge impact on our lives, making it difficult to access the positive aspects such as clarity, compassion, happiness, and joy. We can become caught in certain patterns of thinking, acting, or being as a result of unprocessed trauma that perpetuate the cycle. One wants to break that cycle, but can often feel trapped or hopeless. To resolve that trauma, I specialize in intensive trauma therapy retreats that offer significant healing in days, not years.

With curiosity, compassion and creativity, I explore and honor your unique strengths, needs and challenges. Together, we'll develop your goals for change, and work toward them while building your capacity for both self-acceptance and growth. With a focus on understanding and transforming beliefs and behaviors to become more in alignment with your goals, I will guide you to develop a new relationship with your past, enhance your tools and resources to live more fully in the present, and increase your clarity and confidence to create the future you desire.

My mission is to help my clients better understand who they are, what they want from this life, and how to move towards a more integrated self. My alternative style of therapy blends traditional talk therapy with non-traditional therapeutic methods such as nature therapy, mindfulness-based practices, music and movement, and nature-based groups. I have found that nature, music, and physical activity can set the stage for healing and growth, and I enjoy incorporating these elements into my therapeutic approach.

I view therapy as a creative, collaborative process that facilitates both change and self-acceptance. As a therapist, I create a curious, nonjudgmental space in which we can jointly explore your past and present experience. Our work aims at a deeper understanding of the circumstances that led you to therapy--perhaps painful ways of relating to yourself, to others, or to work. We will work toward helping you grow beyond the patterns or obstacles that have felt limiting so far--and toward helping you realize a more spacious, hopeful, and fulfilling experience of yourself and relationships.

As your therapist, I look forward to hearing about your needs, collaborating with you to define your goals, and starting you on a course toward achieving them. My specialties include anxiety, trauma / PTSD, depression, grief, adjustment, relationship issues, and sexual orientation and gender identity empowerment. I offer an eclectic approach to therapy, drawing upon psychodynamic methods, trauma-informed EMDR and IFS , and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a form of psychotherapy incorporating cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness tools.

I help women of color and LGBTQ+ clients dealing with depression and anxiety who want to learn to prioritize themselves– without guilt. My clients are caring people, but only thinking about everyone else has left them tired. They're ready to slow down, treat themselves with kindness, and figure out what's important to them. Often, they also want to learn to be vulnerable so they can feel closer to people. When we begin our work together, they know there's something missing in their lives but they're overwhelmed and don't know how to start making changes.

Although conflict is inevitable in all intimate relationships, problems that continue to spiral out of control are not. The key to interrupting this painful cycle is learning to communicate constructively in ways that make it possible to manage conflict and get back to intimate connection. While couples are aware of the importance of communication, we are often unable to implement effective skills. The Intentional Dialogue, the heart and cornerstone of Imago Therapy, is a skill-based template that enables couples to communicate thoughtfully and respectfully in an open, honest and non-defended way, even when things get heated.

I’m a therapist, who gave up a successful career as an attorney in NYC, because I believe therapy to be my true “calling". I am passionate about working with my Clients, each of whom is unique, presenting with different issues which prevent them from living as their "authentic" selves or creating the life they want to live. I am empathic, genuine, caring & able to meet Clients “where they're at”. Therapy is a collaborative process. The relationship between us is paramount and is grounded in respect, trust, caring and safety to enable you to deal with difficult, sometimes very painful or confusing emotions and issues.

For the past 30 years, I have been providing mental health services to adolescents, college students, adults, and families. My approach would be to work collaboratively with you focusing on your strengths and your capacity for resilience.