Getting Started with Therapy

You do not need to know exactly what you are looking for in therapy. Many people arrive with something less tidy: a pressure that has been building, a flash of anger that feels larger than the moment, a pattern that keeps returning, a grief or question that has become harder to keep in the background.

If this is your first time in therapy, we can talk about the process as we go. There is no need to arrive fluent in therapy language or with a polished account of what has been happening. A first session gives us a place to begin: to hear what brings you here, to notice what feels most pressing or unresolved, and to let the shape of the work come slowly into view.

If you have been in therapy before, we can talk about what helped, what did not, and what you may not want to repeat. Some people arrive knowing exactly where they want to start; others discover it only once there is enough quiet to listen.

How I Work

My approach is collaborative, careful, depth-oriented, and practical. We may talk about concrete ways to navigate difficult conversations, strong feelings, or decisions that cannot be postponed. At the same time, I listen for the larger patterns beneath the immediate concern: what those patterns protect, what they cost, and why they persist.

Therapy is not only a place to manage symptoms. It can also be a place to pay attention to what keeps returning, what has been left unsaid, and what might become possible when life is understood more fully. You can read more about the approaches I draw from.

A Note About Comfort

Therapy can feel supportive, interesting, creative, and even enjoyable. At times, it can also feel uncomfortable. Sometimes discomfort is a sign that working together is not right for you, and that matters. But discomfort can also be information rather than a verdict.

If something feels difficult between us, we can be curious about it together. What feels uncomfortable? Is the feeling familiar? Does it tend to appear with authority, with closeness, with being seen?

One of the unusual things about therapy is that the conversation itself can become part of the conversation. We do not have to rush discomfort into a judgment, a private problem to solve alone, or a decision made too quickly. Sometimes there is room to stay with it long enough to understand what it is saying. Often, that is where something begins to shift.

To Begin

When you are ready to begin, you can request an appointment through the scheduling page. If none of the available times work, you're welcome to join the waiting list, and I'll be in touch when another opening becomes available.

What the First Appointment Is Like

The first appointment begins with a bit of necessary paperwork, and then we talk. You do not need to tell the whole story in order.

We may start with what brought you here now, or with a broader sense of your life: what your days are like, what has been difficult, and what has begun to feel harder to carry.

In Person in Durham and Online Throughout North Carolina

I work with adults — individuals and couples — in person in Durham and online throughout North Carolina. My office is near Ninth Street and Duke’s East and West campuses, with easy access from Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and the surrounding Triangle area.

For some people, being in the room matters: the quiet, the privacy, the simple act of stepping out of ordinary life and into a space set apart. For others, online therapy makes the work possible. Either way, the work remains the same: unhurried, attentive, and carried with depth.