I am passionate about helping individuals who struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, and self-criticism. My approach focuses on helping clients to nonjudgmentally notice the thoughts and behaviors that are keeping them stuck, learn to practice curiosity about their emotional experiences, engage in new skills for managing painful emotions, identify their values and goals, and develop structured plans for acting in new ways to help build this future.
I specialize in the treatment of anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and perfectionism in children, adolescents, and young adults. My areas of expertise include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP), the gold-standard evidence-based treatment for anxiety and OCD. I am also intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and much of my treatment work is informed by my DBT background – I wholeheartedly believe that just about everyone can benefit from DBT skills, because DBT skills are life skills! Please see “How I Treat” to learn more about what treatments I offer at this practice. Please note, I offer in person therapy services at my office in Providence and virtual therapy services to clients located in Rhode Island or other PsyPact states.
Bio
I was born and raised in a suburb of New York City and grew up hiking, camping, and spending lots of time in nature. After moving away from home for college in Indiana and graduate school in North Carolina, I was thrilled to return to the Northeast when I moved to Rhode Island and I fell in love with the tiny Ocean State. In my free time, I love reading on the beach, hiking, pottery, crafting, and improv comedy.
Training and Research
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Notre Dame. Following undergrad, I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I researched menstrual cycle effects on mood, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors in adolescents with Dr. Mitch Prinstein and Dr. Tory Eisenlohr-Moul. Throughout graduate school, I received clinical training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for children, adolescents, adults, and couples, including training in Exposure with Response Prevention by Dr. Jon Abramowitz, an internationally renowned expert in the research and treatment of OCD. I also completed intensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Dr. Lori Ritschel and Dr. Kathryn Byars and received advanced training in DBT + Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE) for individuals with emotion regulation difficulties and PTSD. I also received training from Dr. Byars in Emotional Resiliency Training for perfectionism, anxiety, emotional avoidance, and shame. I then completed my predoctoral internship at Brown University, specializing in child and adolescent psychology. I stayed on at Brown to complete a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center, where I worked in the partial hospital program for OCD and anxiety related disorders. During my fellowship, I did much of my training within the Dialectical Behavior Therapy + Exposure (DBT-X) track, treating adolescents with OCD/anxiety and co-occurring emotional dysregulation. After my fellowship, I began supervising psychiatry fellows and clinical psychology interns within the Brown University Alpert Warren School of Medicine, where I am currently a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior.