I believe everyone deserves access to quality health care. I work to ensure people from all backgrounds can receive therapy and do my best to create an environment where they feel comfortable to explore the problem(s) bringing them to therapy. Clients are encouraged to hold me accountable by voicing concerns as they arise. This process should be collaborative! While I am trained in various therapeutic modalities, my therapeutic stance is grounded in the Narrative Therapy worldview. Narrative Therapy is a nonjudgmental approach that centers people as the experts in their own experiences. As a narrative therapist, I view problems as problems, not people. Furthermore, I believe stories are the primary way we organize, interpret and make meaning of our lived experiences. Through a process called externalization, the people I work with are able to deconstruct shame-based experiences that once felt out of reach. Social work researcher and academic Brené Brown suggests shame thrives in “secrecy, silence and judgment.” I’ve found this to hold true in my work as a therapist. Once people can separate their shame from their sense of self, they can start to imagine new possibilities.