About Me
Good therapy should always center on the client. That being said, I don't think it's helpful for the therapist to be a complete blank slate. So with that in mind, here's a little about me.
Personal
I live with my wife and our goldendoodle. In my spare time I go on a lot of walks with our dog, Pipoca (it means Popcorn in Portuguese), go out to eat, and try to enjoy time in nature. I also love to scuba dive, though I don't get the chance to do it too often.
Before training to be a therapist, I worked for more than a decade as a federal policy researcher in Washington, DC. I was inspired to become a therapist by my own experiences as a participant in personal and group therapy while working in my previous career. The person I am now is a direct result of the intensive process of self-discovery that I started in therapy and continue to this day.
Professional
I earned my Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northwestern University and trained in private practice and at an addiction treatment outpatient recovery center in Northern Virginia. I was a scholar at the 2023 American Academy of Psychotherapists Annual Conference.
