I graduated from Stony Brook University in 2010 with my Master’s in Social Work and went on to obtain my clinical licensure in New York. That experience taught me the foundation of what it means to connect with and understand children, families, couples, new mothers, adolescents, and adults through some of the most difficult times in their lives.

Alongside the clinical techniques I was learning and putting into practice, I learned how to relate to people in a way that felt human to human. I learned that beneath the diagnoses, the symptoms, the circumstances, and the stories, there is always a person who wants to be understood.

And pretty quickly, I realized that if I wanted to become truly skilled at helping people, I needed to be in the work myself.

I needed to understand, not just intellectually but personally, what it means to explore the parts of ourselves we have learned to avoid. I wanted to understand the meaning behind the idea that we repeat what we don’t want to remember—not only in a behavioral sense, but through the lived experience of becoming more aware of ourselves.

I wanted to feel what the process of understanding myself was truly like, so that I could bring that firsthand experience and knowledge into the work I do with my clients. I continue to believe that we cannot ask people to move toward places within themselves that we are unwilling to explore within our own lives.

I also began practicing yoga regularly in 2011. Through yoga, I have learned so much about the relationship between the body, mind, and soul. I have learned about presence, consistency, breath, and the wisdom of the body. The philosophies and practices I have encountered along that path have impacted my life and my work immensely.

Over time, my understanding of therapy has continued to expand. I believe that meaningful healing is not limited to what we can explain through words. Sometimes we need to slow down enough to feel what is happening within us, listen to the body, become curious about our patterns, and reconnect with the parts of ourselves that have been waiting to be heard.

I believe in humanity. I believe in the beauty of connection—to ourselves, to the earth, and to one another.

And I believe that underneath everything we have learned to be, there is still a part of us that knows the way home.