My Approach

There are many ways into being with our human experience.

Over the years, I've been drawn to approaches that invite us to listen more deeply—to the wisdom of the body, the patterns we carry in relationship, and the parts of ourselves that may not yet have found a voice.

At the heart of my practice are four approaches I've studied and worked with extensively: Somatic Experiencing® (SE), Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experience (DARe), Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF), and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy (PRYT).

Somatic Experiencing®

Developed by Dr. Peter A. Levine, Somatic Experiencing® is a body-oriented approach to understanding and working with the ways our nervous systems respond to stress, threat, and overwhelming experiences.

Our bodies can continue to organize around protection long after a difficult experience has passed, shaping how we feel, respond, connect, and move through life. Rather than focusing solely on the stories of what happened to us, Somatic Experiencing invites us to become curious about how those experiences live in the body—through sensations, movements, impulses, and patterns of tension and protection.

Through gentle, attentive exploration, the work creates opportunities for new experiences of safety, agency, and choice—helping us become less governed by familiar survival responses and more available to the present.

Applied Polyvagal Theory

Applied Polyvagal Theory offers a way to understand ourselves through the lens of the autonomic nervous system—the part of us that continually responds to cues of safety, connection, and potential threat, often outside our conscious awareness.

Our nervous system influences far more than we might realize, shaping how we feel, relate to others, respond to challenges, and experience the world around us. What can seem like anxiety, withdrawal, or an inability to move forward may begin to make more sense when we recognize the protective responses underneath.

For many people, this understanding is like being given a new map of themselves. It offers a compassionate way to recognize familiar patterns, discover what helps us feel more grounded and connected, and develop greater flexibility in how we meet life's challenges.

Dynamic Attachment Repatterning Experience

Developed by Diane Poole Heller, DARe is an attachment-focused approach that explores how our earliest relationships shape our expectations of connection, safety, and support.

The ways we learned to reach for others, express our needs, navigate closeness, or protect ourselves can become deeply familiar patterns, often operating outside our awareness. While these patterns may have developed for good reasons, they don't have to define how we experience relationships throughout our lives.

DARe offers opportunities to explore these patterns through embodied awareness and new relational experiences. With care and attunement, we can begin to develop a greater capacity to trust, receive support, navigate intimacy and boundaries, and experience more freedom and security in our relationships.

Inner Relationship Focusing

Rooted in the pioneering work of psychologist and philosopher Eugene Gendlin, Inner Relationship Focusing was developed by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin. My own training has been primarily with Dr. Maureen Gallagher, whose integration of somatic awareness and compassionate inner relationship has deeply informed my practice.

This approach offers a gentle yet profound way of listening to ourselves, especially the parts of our experience that may be difficult to understand, express, or accept.

Rather than trying to change, silence, or overcome what we feel, we learn to turn toward our inner experience with curiosity and compassion, allowing something new to emerge.

As we develop a more supportive relationship with even the most challenging parts of ourselves, inner conflict can begin to soften. We may discover needs we hadn't recognized, understand ourselves in new ways, and find greater freedom in how we respond to life.

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy

Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy , developed by Michael Less, brings together gentle movement, supported postures, breath, and mindful awareness to explore the relationship between our bodies and our lived experience. It was my first path of working with the body and our inner experiences.

Rather than focusing on how a posture looks or what the body can achieve, the invitation is to notice what happens within us as we move, pause, and listen. Sensations, emotions, memories, and insights may arise, offering opportunities to become curious about ourselves in ways that words alone might not reach.

Through this process, we can discover new ways of relating to our experience, recognize what feels meaningful, and explore how those discoveries might inform the choices we make and the lives we lead.

I not only draw on this in individual sessions, but also offer this work in groups.

The Natural World

A growing body of research suggests that spending time in nature—even simply observing natural surroundings—can support emotional well-being, help restore attention, and contribute to stress reduction.

Beyond these measurable benefits, nature offers something wonderfully immediate: the rhythm of walking, the changing light, the sounds around us, and the ground beneath our feet can invite us to slow down, engage our senses, reflect, and experience ourselves in new ways.

My interest in bringing nature into this work is both personal and professional, informed in part by Level 1 training in Somatic Ecotherapy through the Earthbody Institute. Outdoor walking sessions offer an opportunity to step away from offices and screens and into the natural world, where movement, fresh air, and our surroundings can become part of the experience—creating space for connection, reflection, and new perspectives.