My Practice Philosophy

Medications can be a helpful part of the treatment plan.

When used in combination with psychotherapy and lifestyle changes, usually lower doses are very effective.

We will discuss your medication options so that you are aware of the risks and benefits.

I believe the key is being flexible - I will work with you to change any medication that is not working or causing unacceptable adverse effects.

I often recommend supplements as a great addition to the treatment plan, especially when labs indicate Vitamin deficiencies or to help you get from just better to feeling awesome.

I offer pharmaceutical grade supplements via Fullscript at a small discount, though you are welcome to buy them any where else as well. You can find the link for my Fullscript page here.

I will order basic labs after initial assessment like a complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, thyroid function tests, B12, folate, vitamin D levels, lipid panel, etc via Labcorp. You can also do these labs with your Primary care Provider.

If you did any labs in the last three months, you can send them to me and I will order additional tests if necessary.

Depending on prior medication trials as well as family history and to increase your comfort level with medications we choose, I might order genetic testing. I partner with GeneSight for this test.

GeneSight is a pharmacogenomic test that analyzes clinically important genetic variations that may affect your outcomes with certain medications. The results of the test can show which medications may require dose adjustments, may be less likely to work, or may have an increased risk of side effects based on your genetic makeup. You can find more information about the GeneSight test here.

How we spend our time, what we eat, the balance between rest and effort, all affect our mental and physical health. I will help you optimize sleep hygiene, nutrition, exercise and social connections to get the best long term results for mental health, optimal wellness and resilience.

Our mind and body are of course connected and influence one another. We will explore traditional mindfulness practices, mindful self-compassion, active meditations and trauma sensitive yoga as part of your comprehensive treatment plan.

We can also explore your spiritual practice if you are open to it.

Tobacco use can make your depression and anxiety worse. You may be painfully aware that it is damaging your health and increasing your risk for cancer, yet may be unable to stop.

I am a Nationally Certified Tobacco Treatment Professional and I have a lot of experience in helping my patients quit smoking. I can also help you to quit other forms of tobacco like vaping and smokeless tobacco.

You can get started on medications to help you cut down tobacco even if you are not ready to quit yet. Research studies show that starting medication prior to quitting dramatically increases your chances of quitting and staying quit. Even if you do not quit, cutting down tobacco use can have significant positive impact on your physical and mental health.

Quitting tobacco is the single best thing you can do for yourself!

Having a child with special needs means worrying about whether they will ever be independent, ever have their own family or if they will ever have friends. It can be painful to watch the kids struggle. It is much harder if you are also from a conservative culture trying raise kids in the US. That is why Special kids need Special Parents!

I love working with parents of kids with special needs. I will help you manage the pain and anxiety of being a special parent. You will learn to find joy and happiness, even in the midst of it all.

I will guide you towards the best resources and evidence-informed treatments that can benefit your child. I will help you figure out the right mix of warmth and structure, the secret sauce that can help your child grow, flourish and thrive!

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a targeted and time-limited form of psychotherapy used to address a wide range of psychological issues, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use. Unlike traditional therapy approaches that delve into early childhood experiences, CBT focuses on your current thoughts, behaviors, and communication patterns. Many studies have shown that CBT works just as well as medication for mild to moderate depression and anxiety.

CBT techniques include learning relaxation practices, recognizing and responding to problematic automatic thoughts and thought distortions, developing hierarchy of anxiety inducing situations and conquering them one step at a time. CBT also helps you to learn how to help yourself so you can keep getting better even after the therapy is finished.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence based therapy that helps people recover from trauma and PTSD. It involves focusing on the traumatic memory while doing eye movements or other bilateral stimulation. It has been proven effective for anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, and addictions.

Traumatic memories are often stored in fragmented forms and nonverbal implicit memories like body sensations and feeling memories. They are also often blocked from our thinking capacities, compassion and adult perspectives.

It is very difficult to access and integrate these memories through traditional talk therapy. EMDR can be helpful to finally access and integrate these difficult experiences.

EMDR is also great for building and strengthening internal resources and developing emotional resilience so that you can move through everyday life with grace and compassion.

Internal Family Systems therapy (IFS) is an evidence based therapy that can help with trauma. I am certified in Dr. Janina Fisher’s trauma treatment model that includes elements of IFS, EMDR and somatosensory approaches. This is based on the structural dissociation model which states that childhood trauma and emotional neglect can result in fragmentation of the self into thinking/cognitive every day self and several aspects of emotional self that result in internal conflict.

If you are struggling with childhood trauma, you may find yourself feeling emotionally numb and facing particular challenges when it comes to experiencing positive emotions. Everyday events can frequently trigger you, leading to conflicting and intense emotions about various aspects of life. It is possible that you struggle with self-critical thoughts, shame, self-disgust, anxiety, or even feelings of being frozen and shut down. This turmoil can make it challenging to make decisions and move forward in positive ways. These difficulties may also affect your ability to care for and nurture yourself consistently.

The goal of this therapy is to help you recognize these various parts, connect with and soothe them, so that you have the internal experience of a warm loving family than a warring tribe!

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence based psychotherapy method that helps to move you towards changing problematic behaviors like substance use. It is helpful to clarify your core values and can help you to reflect on how your current life and behavior reflect these values or contradict them. MI is based on principles of autonomy and self-efficacy and helps you to decide on next steps in your recovery journey from a menu of possible options. It is perfectly okay if you are ambivalent about recovery. All of us are ambivalent about many things in life! I will meet you where you are with MI and help you one step at a time.

Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) is an evidence-based therapy for friends and families of individuals with substance use disorders who refuse to get treatment.

CRAFT therapists work with the families of patients with addiction to accomplish three major goals:

1. To influence substance user (Identified patient IP) to seek treatment.

2. Reduce IP’s alcohol/drug use.

3. Improve psychosocial functioning of the family regardless of whether or not the IP enters treatment.

CRAFT recognizes that only the IP can ultimately change their behavior, at the same time families often have much greater influence on the IP than they realize.

CRAFT helps family members to take care of themselves, learn positive communication, break negative loops of behavior, identify trends and triggers for the IP’s substance use, modify the environment, reduce triggers and also learn how to respond to the IP’s substance use.

Research shows that over 70% of IPs entered treatment when families implemented CRAFT methodology and almost all the families reported improved functioning and felt empowered to respond to their loved ones’ addiction.

Yes! your loved one with addiction issues does not need to come to treatment sessions for CRAFT to help your family! I can help you to learn the core skills of CRAFT so that you can help your loved one.

If you struggle with self-critical thoughts or feeling inadequate, not good enough or shame, self dislike or self hatred, self-compassion can be like a healing elixir.

Compassion focused psychotherapy aims to teach you specific practices you can integrate into your life to foster an internal sense of warmth and compassion.

Self-compassion is a skill, it can be learned. You can learn more about this approach from Dr. Kristin Neff’s work on self-compassion here.