Personality Disorders

I am formally trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) through Behavioral Tech - Marsha Linehan's training foundation. I have both residential and outpatient experience treating symptoms common in personality disorders such as suicidality, self-harm, and interpersonal struggles.

I am trained to work with the entire spectrum of personality disorders. My practice utilizes evidenced based treatments to treat and manage personality traits that get in the way of living a fulfilling life including DBT, Radically Open DBT, and Mentalization based treatment. My approach tend to be honest, down to earth, and direct.

I specialize in helping identify patterns of coping and behavior that may no longer serve you well. Through compassionate curiosity, I can help you find healthier, happier ways of relating to yourself and others.

I specialize in working with Borderline personality Disorder in particular, with having experience and success with helping this population improve their emotional regulation skills and ability, and improve their inter-personal relationships. I am also working on becoming certified in DBT to help this population as well.

You’ve been struggling with overwhelming emotion, at times hopeless that you will ever feel grounded. Emotions hit you like unrelenting ocean waves, and you’re being tossed and thrown around trying to get above water for some air. With comprehensive DBT and trauma focused therapy, I can help you navigate overwhelming emotion so you can feel safe and grounded, resolve conflict in relationships so you can feel connected and secure, and connect to yourself so you can feel powerful & purposeful.

I have extensive experience treating personality disorders and truly enjoy working with the brilliant and creative individuals who often receive this label. If you have a PD diagnosis, I know that you have likely experienced a great deal of pain and fear in this life. You may been feeling alone or rejected because relationships are not your strong suit. If you are ready to practice vulnerability and learn a new way of connecting to yourself and others, I can help.

I have worked for 5 years with over 50 clients experiencing some type of personality disorder and with co-occurring diagnoses. I strive to support those I work with to help normalize the experience of the symptoms of personality disorder, work through stuck points, and provide alternate methods of therapy to help tackle their challenges from different ways. It is very important to me to change the stigma that has historically been put on personality disorders and offer validation and support.

All relationships come with their own hurdles; however, sometimes they can feel extra difficult to navigate. If being in close relationships has often felt difficult, please reach out and learn how to feel closer and more engaged with those you care about.

Some of my clients feel understood for the first time in their lives when they receive a personality disorder diagnosis. Others have strong negative feelings about it. No matter how you feel about it, the recurrent depression, feelings of emptiness, feeling outside of life, having a hard time building really satisfying relationships with others, and chaotic feeling that can come with BPD or NPD is painful. You deserve help that can ease your suffering and help you live a more satisfying life.

I can assure you that you are welcome here in this space. I've built a whole person program to do more than just talk: Depth oriented individual work to unburden the wounds, creative exploration (with a sprinkle of skills, because they are still needed), and nature based work to fill up your cup. This program is here to help undo the whole knot, and be a constant space to receive support from. Head to my website, take a look at what I have to offer. It's a space for you if you want it.

I specialize in the treatment of borderline personality disorder and the whole spectrum of personality disorders. I am also skilled in treating suicidal behaviors, non-suicidal self injury, suicidal ideation and any self harm behaviors.

Struggling with chronic emotion dysregulation and distress can feel isolating and demoralizing. With DBT I help clients diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder or Borderline traits build skills to soothe emotional distress, regulate and focus the mind, and build a true life worth living. I have extensive training in DBT and its applications, and have offered DBT in all levels of care and settings.

When a trauma occurs, our brain tries to cope by getting our needs met in ways that others don’t understand. Those behaviors are often grouped together and labeled as a personality disorder. I work to take the shame and invalidation from these disorders and help clients learn coping skills and resolve trauma so that our brains don’t need to work so aggressively to get our needs met.

During my time in private practice, and prior to my experiences with VA and DOD, I worked in an acute care facility, where I focused largely on the effects and healing from personality disorders. It takes a nuanced approach and deep clinical understanding to be able to align with someone dealing with a personality disorder without judgement or biased. We all deserve to have a fulfilling life and solid relationships, which is often the distressing fallout of these disorders.

Sometimes individuals are brought to therapy not on their own volition, but because they've been prompted to do so. Perhaps they lack awareness and insight into their own problems. I help individuals gain awareness and develop insight, and teach how their problems not only affect themselves, but others as well. Personality disorders are of particular interest to me, given I learned to overcome some of my own narcissistic tendencies in therapy.

My professional expertise is to use the term “Personality Adaptations” instead of Personality Disorders, in order to emphasize the difficulties have their origin as child survival adaptations to difficult childhood situations. My basic position is that Disorganized Personality organization began as emotional survival adaptations to get one’s needs met in an unhealthy childhood environment. Disorders of Self reflect an insecure attachment/separation and Object system of Trauma responses.

I specialize in helping people recover from narcissistic relationships. Together, we will: process the relationship and emotional trauma, explore emotional triggers, recognize healthy and unhealthy relationships, set boundaries, prioritize your needs, and build a healthy support system.

Sometimes it is hard to find support when dealing with a chronic condition. We can support your recovery from chronic personality issues and encourage engagement in therapeutic groups to supplement your recovery journey.