Relationships & Intimacy
In-Person in Kingston, NY and Online Across the State of New York
How Can Therapy Help My Relationships?
Therapy can play a crucial role in improving and strengthening relationships by providing a safe and structured space for communication, understanding, and growth. Whether you are facing conflicts, communication breakdowns, or challenges in intimacy, these issues can often stem from feelings of anxiety, depression, or past trauma that you need to work through. Through open dialogue and guided discussions, individuals can explore the root of their relational issues and develop healthier patterns with their personal and romantic relationships. I help individuals build these healthy patterns by addressing those root causes of anxiety, depression, and trauma. Our sessions will illuminate patterns and dynamics within your relationships and help you break negative cycles you may be stuck in. Clients often find that seeking therapy for their relationships will lead to increased mutual understanding, improved emotional intimacy, and the development of tools to navigate challenges, ultimately fostering a healthier and more fulfilling connection.
What Does It Mean To Be Intimate With Yourself?
Being intimate with oneself goes beyond physicality; it involves cultivating a deep and honest connection with your thoughts, emotions, and personal identity. It's a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, where you explore your values, desires, fears, and vulnerabilities without judgment. This level of intimacy fosters a level of understanding of your own needs and fosters a compassionate relationship with oneself and ultimately others in your life. Embracing self-intimacy can lead to increased self-esteem, emotional resilience, and a stronger sense of authenticity. It empowers you to make choices aligned with your true self, nurtures a positive self-image, and contributes to overall well-being. I help my clients build an intimate connection with themselves and lay the foundation for healthier relationships with others, whether they be platonic or romantic relationships.
Therapy For Intimacy Can Help With
Understanding your needs
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Recognizing patterns around getting your needs met
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Effective communication skills
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Emotional regulation
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Accepting yourself and others
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Allowing space for your emotions and experiences
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Strengthing your platonic and romantic relationships
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Understanding your needs 〰️ Recognizing patterns around getting your needs met 〰️ Effective communication skills 〰️ Emotional regulation 〰️ Accepting yourself and others 〰️ Allowing space for your emotions and experiences 〰️ Strengthing your platonic and romantic relationships 〰️
Q&A about my approach to care
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Every individual is the expert on their own lives – including their experiences within their various backgrounds and identities. I approach everything in life with a respectful degree of curiosity. I do not make sweeping assumptions and instead will ask questions when needed. I do not shy away from parts of life I do not understand, as I find it to be unhelpful to avoid learning about pieces of you that are so important.
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I have always been a very curious person, and that curiosity led me to become a clinical social worker. Before becoming a therapist, I spent a few years in Ireland working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/D). During that time, I watched as communities and systems worked to treat physical symptoms without addressing underlying emotional concerns. This was a similar experience to things I’ve witnessed my entire life. From there, the desire to understand how our overall well-being is deeply tied to every aspect of our lives bloomed. I started working in college mental health, transitioned into private practice, and most recently worked as a clinical director at a mental health startup. The ever-present curiosity resulted in my training in trauma-focused modalities, like IFS and EMDR, to assist clients in truly understanding and healing the root causes of emotional wounds.
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I am an out-of-network provider, and my rate is $225 per session. I am happy to help you understand any out-of-network benefits you may have and provide you with documentation for reimbursement from your insurance company.
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Beginning therapy can be uncomfortable for many reasons. I believe the biggest reason is that you are being vulnerable with a complete stranger! I would say to expect some levels of discomfort because it can feel quite unnatural at first… but give it a chance.
I generally spend time orienting you to therapy while orienting myself to you. I will generally take the lead and gather as much information as is relevant and then let our time together unfold organically.
There is nothing you need to do to prepare other than show up and be yourself. If you find it helpful, you could have in mind some key reasons why you are seeking therapy.
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While having supportive and close relationships with loved ones is invaluable, the relationship with a therapist is different for many reasons. Two of the key reasons I find are:
1. Third party perspective: At times it is nice to have someone to speak to who is able to see you with fresh eyes and can provide a more objective perspective. Everyone has stories and an idea of who you are, including loved ones. When trying to figure something out about yourselves that is sensitive, it is nice to have an outside perspective which you will get from a therapist hearing your story for the first time.
2. Trained to provide emotional support: Loved ones can be amazing, but even if they are trying their best they may not be able to understand your emotional process the way a trained professional can. Life experiences, complicated emotions, and turbulent relationships take a careful nuanced approach to help work through. Loved ones can want the best for you and at times miss the mark. Working with a therapist is akin to being with someone who can hold your feelings and help you understand your emotions.
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Lately, I have been focusing on creating a slower and more simplified life. As someone who has thrived in NYC culture, I found the phrase “slow down to speed up” very useful in my professional life. Centralizing slowing down is just as beneficial for our inner world. We often bypass difficult and pleasant emotions to focus on the next task, project, or worry. Slowing things down in therapy could be taking a challenging conversation and breaking it down frame by frame to understand what went into each exchange and how it led to the challenging experience. It could also mean breaking down that nagging habit you’ve been trying to drop by exploring which feelings come up when. This intentional witnessing of emotions helps us understand why we are doing it in the first place and where we could circumvent it. Most of us know that we live on autopilot in some areas of life, but what about the areas that aren’t as obvious? When we focus on slowing down in therapy, we bring more light and attention to unconscious processes that impact us in a big way.
