About
A Chance for Hope + Healing
Have you ever heard of the Japanese art of Kintsugi? It is an artistic way of mending broken pieces of pottery and ceramics by using lacquered gold to bond its pieces back together.
I think about this in the way people can feel so broken at times. I grew up in a household where I saw moments of mistrust and frustration between my parents, but at the same time experienced moments of profound joy and comfort in vulnerability. Emotions were not something people were afraid of in my home. It was in these experiences that I knew that I wanted to examine how people learned to repair after moments of distress. Most importantly, I wanted to find a way to successfully help those who never learned to repair or to recover.
The good news is, over the last five decades of scientific research on relationships and attachment, there are effective ways in which people can heal and recover after an injury.
Together, we will address what throws you into interpersonal turmoil that prevents you from having a safe and secure connection. Without this connection, you end up interacting in ways that leave you feeling very alone or maybe even questioning your love for the ones who matter to you the most.
Frequently Asked Questions
I do not take insurance, however, I will do my best to help you with some documents you may need to file with your insurance company. Please see our Insurance Information page to learn more.
The Process
Just as a Kintsugi artist uses gold to repair fractures, I help my clients heal and recover through Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT).
EFT is an experiential and systemic therapeutic approach based on the research of attachment bonding between parent and child and in romantic partnerships.
Let’s explore these items one by one. EFT is experiential because it takes into account your experience of your internal world of emotions, and how you use those emotions to drive or influence your thoughts and behaviors. EFT also factors in that you are part of a larger system – if something affects you, it can ultimately impact the ones closest to you, and vice versa. EFT stems from the theoretical model that we are all hard-wired for attachment. When you can’t turn to anyone for nurturing and soothing, you experience distress, which leads you to either fight with your loved ones or withdraw from them.
Empirical research studies conducted over the past 30 years support EFT’s validity. It is a powerful modality that works faster and has longer-lasting results than other types of therapeutic models of counseling. The research shows that 75% of couples undergoing EFT move from distress to recovery, and they show significant improvements in relationship satisfaction after completing therapy with an EFT-trained therapist. This recovery is also quite stable and lasting, with little evidence of relapse back into distress.
"The goal of EFT is not just to manage your daily stressors, but to create a more secure attachment bond using the power of emotion."
This secure bond ultimately leads to satisfaction, intimacy, and trust in yourself and your partner. It goes to the heart of some of the difficult, and sometimes scary, questions you may ask yourself in moments of distress: Why do I feel so alone all the time? Why do I push people away when I want to be close? When will my partner finally understand/value/choose me? Am I ever going to be good enough?
My Approach
EFT, in itself, is interactive, exploratory, and collaborative. I’m also not the type to do much head-nodding and only observing from a distance. I am right there alongside you, guiding you through some of your toughest emotional and mental roadblocks.
I like to use all the parts of your stories – the hurt, the anger, the joy – to help you gain an understanding of yourself and your partnerships. I believe that you are the expert in knowing your unique experiences, and I trust you have very good reasons for doing the things you do. I will assist you in finding aspects of your stories that you usually don’t pay attention to (or maybe don’t want to pay attention to).
In our sessions, we’re going to keep collaborating. I encourage you to correct me as we go along to ensure you feel understood.
When you come in for a session, I will guide you on how to resolve the pain and hurt by getting out of your negative cycles of interaction. Then, we will work together to replace this cycle with corrective bonding moments that address your needs, fears, and longings to create a more secure connection.
You can be put back together again, just like the Japanese art of kintsugi, or “golden joinery.” Sometimes in the process of repairing things that have broken, we create something stronger, more beautiful, and more resilient.
Professional Affiliations + Education
I have always had an interest in finding out how to make relationships more meaningful and what can be done to make them last. I began this work as an undergraduate coding for a research study observing hundreds of recordings of couples arguing in moments of distress at Baylor University’s Couple Conflict Research Laboratory. My interest in relational work continued to grow, so I explored the dynamics of relationships while working at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Part of my job was conducting interviews with breast cancer patients and their spouses to study the effects of stressful arguments on recovery and healing. My clinical experience also includes working with highly volatile couples in a psychiatric hospital in inpatient and outpatient settings. Prior to opening my practice, I worked at Eddins Counseling Group, a premier private practice, for almost five years working as a specialist in relationships between couples and families.
I continue to recognize the power of closeness and meaningful connection and how it can heal painful experiences related to grief, betrayal, and detachment.
I am a Certified EFT Therapist awarded by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, which is considered the gold standard in scientific research and treatment for couples and relationship therapy. I belong to the Houston Community for Emotionally Focused Therapists (HCEFT), the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society (HGPS), and the Texas Counseling Association (TCA). I am a Licensed Professional Counselor approved by the State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors to practice psychotherapy in Texas. I have a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Houston and a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Psychology and Sociology from Baylor University.
