What we do

I’m a clinical health psychologist who specializes in helping people cope with the challenges of chronic physical illness and chronic pain as well as everyday stressors that negatively affect health.

Medicine and technology have improved greatly in the past century, helping people live longer, but many medical conditions still have no cure.

Living with a pain condition or a chronic illness is overwhelming. You may face many emotional and lifestyle challenges, including sadness, anger, worry, loss of interest, fatigue, pain, problems getting along with people and problems getting things done.

You may have questions that your doctor may not have time or be equipped to address. You may have trouble getting your point made, your questions answered, and concerns addressed.

In addition to trying to follow the complex treatment recommendations or trying to choose the right treatment strategy for your condition, you must also endure the sometimes debilitating side effects of the treatment itself, such as nausea, fatigue, weight gain, residual pain or neuropathy (nerve damage), depression, and physical changes.

Sometimes it even undermines your sense of control over your life and your personal identity.

I help people improve their quality of life and equip them with the skills necessary to live the most fulfilling life possible, by providing support, education, and skills training.

I help people learn to manage their own lives and their medical condition rather than letting their pain or illness rule their life.

  • I spend time educating patients about their condition, the healthcare model, and treatment.
  • I support people’s concerns about living with their medical conditions, and problem solve difficult situations.
  • Using biofeedback and other cognitive-behavioral techniques, I help people to work with their body rather than against it by increasing their ability to regulate their body’s basic functions, such as breathing and muscle tension and the situational triggers that prompt them. With this technique I also teach people how to activate the body’s relaxation response.
  • In addition to increasing people’s awareness of their body, I teach people skills they can use to change their body’s responses, such as relaxation and breathing techniques to decrease muscle tension and pain severity, reduce nausea and anxiety, and work with clients to identify behaviors/situations that they can change to prevent these symptoms from being aggravated.
  • I also work with individuals who are affected by a loved one with a chronic illness, whether they are a caregiver, family member, or friend having a hard time understanding the illness and its impact on the patient and on their relationship with the patient.

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