About me
As the mother of two energetic boys, I know first-hand how challenging and lonely parenting young children can be. I’m married and am lucky to have a good support system, but when bedtime comes and I finally get some “me” time, I’m the one lost in worry, or googling about my worries, or even worse, flooded with mom guilt and am beating myself up. And then I beat myself up for beating myself up. It can be a frustrating cycle of overwhelming thoughts and feelings that don’t leave me feeling great about myself. If you’re here, I’m guessing you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.
As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, I’ve spent the past 16 years dedicated to supporting families by providing compassionate individual, family and group therapy to caregivers and their children. With extensive training and experience in the use of evidenced-based treatment models, such as Child Parent Psychotherapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, The Attachment, Regulation and Competency Framework, and Circle of Security Parenting Program, I’ve been able to use my professional and personal experiences to guide families on their journey toward becoming more connected with each other and confident in rising to the challenges of parenthood.
I also have extensive training and experience in working with women experiencing Perinatal Mental Health Disorders. I am also a survivor of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. I know just how frightening, disorienting, and heartbreaking it can be to experience this while trying to care for an infant because I’ve lived it. But I also know that you are not alone, you are not to blame and with help you will get better. I know because with help, I got better and am now committed to supporting women on their own mental health journey.
Relationships matter.
In all the years I’ve been a clinical social worker, this has been the foundation on which I’ve built my approach to therapy. It’s not my job to “fix” you because, while you may feel a bit broken, I can assure you that you are not. Sometimes, we need good company to work through life’s challenges with before we’re able to re-discover our strength and recognize ourselves as whole.
That’s where I - and the relationship we create - come in.
My role, as a therapist, is to partner with you in creating a sense of felt safety within our therapeutic relationship. I do this through active listening, validating and honoring your lived experiences, recognizing you as the expert on your life and family, and holding space for anything and everything you bring to our sessions together. The therapeutic relationship becomes a safe harbor for vulnerability, honesty, and ultimately, healing and change.
I have a strengths-based, client-centered, trauma-informed and developmentally appropriate approach to my work with children and families. I provide LGBTQIA2S+ affirming care and am neurodivergent friendly. I meet clients where they are at in their journey and partner with you in creating goals for our work together - your priorities become my priorities. This includes deciding what model of therapy will be used to create change.
Throughout my life, people that I know and others that I don’t, have said to me “you’d make a great therapist.” And that’s because of everything else I bring to the relationship. Compassion, empathy, non-judgment, the capacity to “be with” you in your most difficult feelings, a sense of humor, and the ability to look beyond what’s brought you to therapy by seeing you for who you are - a pearl waiting to be found.
My Approach to Therapy
Education and Experience
I graduated from Bridgewater State College in 2004 with a BA in Sociology and in 2006, I graduated from Rhode Island College with my Master’s Degree in Social Work. After graduating with my MSW, I spent six years working with young children (0-3) and families in their homes as a service coordinator/social worker for the People Incorporated Early Intervention Program/Early Intervention Partnership Program in Fall River, Ma. During those six years, I learned how important the early years are, for both children and their families. As I worked closely with children and families, I became passionate about parental and infant/early childhood mental health because I witnessed time and again the power of relationships.
The next six years of my career were spent working as a clinician for the Youth Trauma Program, a program of the Justice Resource Institute, in Fall River, Ma. In this role, I provided individual therapy to children who were victims of abuse and neglect, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, substance use exposure and witness to domestic violence. I also worked closely with their caregivers, providing education and support around trauma as well as resilience. During this time, I came to understand there are no bad kids, just kids who have had bad things happen to them and are trying their best to cope with life’s challenges, just like the rest of us.
For the past four years, I’ve worked as a clinical social worker for the People Incorporated Preschool and Children’s Center, both in Fall River, Ma. In this role, I’ve been able to combine all of my social work-related passions - early childhood mental health, parental mental health, trauma - and use all I’ve learned from prior work experiences and the families I’ve worked with to provide developmentally appropriate and trauma-informed support to our young students. I also provide education and support to caregivers and classroom teachers in this role because it’s important to me that adults recognize children aren’t giving us a hard time, they are having a hard time. This idea has become my north star, guiding me in my work with both children and adults.
Part of being a skilled therapist is understanding the need to continually learn and grow in this field. While I have extensive training in and experience using evidence-based models of therapy, I’m also always working toward mastering other ways to support those I work with. I completed the 2020 MOM and Postpartum Support International Maternal Mental Health Certificate Course in 2022 and earned my Certification in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) in 2024.
