AnimasHow I work
Warm on the surface. Clinical underneath.
I want you comfortable enough to say the true thing. Underneath that, the work is evidence-based and I pull from whichever method actually fits you.
A first session usually opens with something like “so how's your day going?” That's not filler. Comfortable is where people say the real thing, and I'd rather get there than run a checklist at you.
There's no hierarchy in the room. I'm not the expert issuing findings about your life. I'm sitting in it with you, and I'm going to be honest with you about what I'm hearing.
The through-line
Most of what I do comes back to one idea. We build the narrative we live by around the age of ten, out of what parents, caregivers, teachers and the kids around us handed us. Then we treat it as fact for the next several decades.
So the work is catching those thoughts as they show up, holding them still long enough to look at, and sorting what you were told about yourself from what's actually true. When that starts to move, people stop assuming they're limited and start noticing what they can genuinely do.
That's the deep end. Plenty of the work is more practical than that, and that's fine too.
A lot of sessions are straightforward skill-building. Managing anxiety. Working through depression. Putting structure around a week that keeps falling apart. Not every piece of this has to be excavation.
Training
What I'm trained in, in plain language
Six methods. I don't run everybody through the same one — I use what fits the person and the problem.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Looking hard at how a thought drives a feeling and then a behavior — and changing the ones that aren't doing you any favors.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Concrete skills for regulating emotion, getting through distress without making it worse, and handling relationships.
Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing
Structured work for processing traumatic memory so it stops running the show from the back seat.
Motivational Interviewing
Working out what you actually want to change, in your own words, on your own terms.
Person-Centered Therapy
You lead. I follow closely, reflect back what I'm hearing, and keep us honest about it.
Essence-Oriented Therapy
Getting underneath the roles and the reflexes to the person who was there before any of it.
What the first session is like
Mostly we get to know each other. I want to know who you are, and I want you to get a read on who I am as a provider — because if that fit isn't there, the rest of it doesn't work very well.
Bring whatever is actually on your mind. There's nothing to prepare and no right way to start. If you've never done this before and have no idea what you're supposed to say, that's a completely normal place to begin.
How long people stay
It depends what you're bringing. Some people come for a few months to work one specific thing through. Others stay longer because the work keeps opening up. We'll talk about it honestly as we go rather than me holding a number over you.
In person or by video
Both. In person here in Durango, or by video anywhere in Colorado — I'm licensed in Colorado only. Plenty of people do a mix depending on the week. See the questions page for the practical details, or rates and payment for cost.
Want to see if this fits?
The first session is mostly just finding out. No commitment beyond that.