Present, curious, and engaged in the work.

My approach

With 20 years of clinical experience, my approach to psychoanalytic work is contemporary, relational, and deeply attentive to the emotional experience that develops between us. I listen not only to what you say, but also to what may be communicated through silence, humor, conflict, withdrawal, or the patterns that emerge in our work together.

I'm not an analyst who simply sits silently and observes. I can be active, direct, curious, and emotionally present, particularly when I believe it can help us understand what has been difficult to recognize or put into words. At times, we may sit with difficult feelings; at others, I may gently challenge a familiar pattern as it happens between us.

My aim is to help you understand not simply why you feel or behave as you do, but to develop a greater capacity to experience difficult feelings without immediately retreating from, defending against, or acting on them—creating greater freedom in how you experience yourself, your relationships, and your life.

Understanding what our defenses protect

Many of the ways we protect ourselves emotionally were once necessary or useful. A person who learned to remain self-sufficient, anticipate disappointment, withdraw from conflict, or manage feelings through constant activity may find that those same responses now interfere with closeness and spontaneity.

Rather than asking someone to abandon these protections, I am interested in understanding what made them necessary, what they continue to accomplish, and what becomes possible when they are no longer the only available response.

Insight and emotional experience

Sometimes we can describe a pattern clearly and still feel unable to change it. Knowing something intellectually is not always the same as experiencing it differently. The relationship we develop in treatment can offer opportunities to notice these moments, consider their meaning, and gradually tolerate feelings that have been difficult to bear.

Change is rarely a straight line. I pay attention to the quieter signs of movement: a moment of reflection before reacting, a feeling that can be named rather than avoided, or a familiar difficulty that becomes less consuming.

Professional education and credentials. I am a New York State Licensed Psychoanalyst (LP), with approximately 19 years of clinical experience working with individuals and couples. My education includes training at the New York Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.

Additional Credentials

Certificate in Modern Psychoanalysis — Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies (CMPS), 2018.