Chronic pain and chronic illness are two different (but highly related) speciality areas of mine.

How do I reduce my chronic pain?

Once your central nervous system starts anticipating pain, it becomes hypervigilant and amplifies that pain. This doesn't mean your pain is in your head – your pain is real, coming from a combination of medical, psychological, and social sources. I can help you downregulate your nervous system and work through aspects of life that are reinforcing your symptoms. Addressing these factors can reduce or even completely eliminate your pain. 

If you are coming to me for chronic pain treatment, our first session will be a thorough assessment of your symptoms in order to determine if my treatment method is a good fit for your needs. I am happy to collaborate with your medical professional or physical therapist throughout our treatment process as needed.

I address pain using a wide combination of techniques, including psychoanalytic psychotherapy and Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT). Our exact approach will depend on what makes sense for you, given your symptoms and your history. When we have our initial phone call, I am happy to explain more of how this process works.

How do I live my best life when I have a chronic illness or disability?

If you're having health problems, you have likely seen the ways it can limit your ability to engage deeply and intentionally in many aspects of life. In addition to experiencing physical limitations, you may also be experiencing emotional reactions to your health issues – these emotional reactions make life feel harder in general.

I worked in a hospital for several years, both outpatient and inpatient, and have a broad range of expertise with health problems. 

I am quite experienced in working with disability through my work with chronic pain as well as my work with social secuiry

Patients with cancer often benefit from an emotional guide. Working with cancer means not only helping you explore your relationship with the cancer, but exploring the way cancer can change social relationships, self-conceptions,  and fears of disability and death. Even the maintenance phase of a cancer journey often brings new kinds of anxiety around recurrence.

I also work with patients with terminal prognoses even if that prognosis is far off (palliative care). The way we approach death is a very important part of the life experience. I work with people at all stages of the dying process, and have even provided trainings to medical residents on how to have sensitive yet informative end-of-life conversations. Therapy can be a great place to explore big questions, such as establishing a plan for end of life, exploring sense of purpose in life, and navigating family.