Experiencing major traumatic events can be deeply wounding, create overwhelming stress, and change one's worldview. For many, traumatic events are re-experienced through intrusive thoughts, images, or nightmares; lead to emotional changes like chronic guilt, shame, anger, depression, or numbness; make it difficult to relax or get restful sleep; and limit full participation and enjoyment in life. I provide two front-line approaches for PTSD: cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure therapy (PE). Both of these approaches have substantial research demonstrating that they can reduce these painful symptoms in a relatively short period of time. Many people have lived with the effects of trauma for years. No matter how long it's been, it isn't too late for trauma-focused therapy to help heal and reclaim the areas of life that have been impacted.

Depression is often recognized by feeling down or irritable, having difficulty completing daily tasks, a low sense of self-worth or pessimism, or feeling little enjoyment in life. Like other mental health problems, depression shows up differently from person to person and exists on a continuum. While for some it is disabling, for others it creates a sub-optimal quality of life that one may have learned to cope with and mask from others or even themselves. In many cases, depression is a signal of another ongoing issue.

Several psychotherapies for depression have significant evidence behind them, and my approach varies depending on assessment. Most commonly, it involves providing support and structure to move towards a life that better reflects your true values; identifying and addressing deeply-held beliefs about yourself, others, and the world; and gaining insight to unprocessed grief, trauma, or unmet needs.