About Me

We all need allies along our journey. Everyone goes through difficult situations in life, and while you may have successfully navigated many of these, there is nothing wrong with seeking out extra support when you need it.

What I’m Like As A Therapist

My therapeutic approach is direct, supportive, and collaborative. I deeply listen as a curious and compassionate witness to you and your experience. I provide sanctuary for you, a safe, non-judgmental space where you can spill out your heart and mind and begin to make sense of things. You likely will feel seen, heard, and acknowledged in ways you may never have before.

Learn More About Ya'el

What I’m Like As A Therapist

My therapeutic approach is direct, supportive, and collaborative. I deeply listen as a curious and compassionate witness to you and your experience. I provide sanctuary for you, a safe, non-judgmental space where you can spill out your heart and mind and begin to make sense of things. Be careful! You likely will feel seen, heard, and acknowledged in ways you may never have before.

I take an active role in sessions. Together, we help you find and harness your strengths, resources, and creativity. Lean into your edges. Apply practical, relevant solutions to problems. Shine light into dark places to help you make progress in your life. I offer you a calm and nurturing presence where I will both validate you and push you past your comfort zone when appropriate.

Earned from my own life experiences as well as my extensive education and training, I have the resilience and capacity to hold you, your stories, your experience, and your pain. I love to laugh and sometimes curse, showing up authentically in our sessions. There may be times I might unintentionally step on your feelings, and we will work through any difficulties with kindness and clarity, modeling right relationship.

Based on excellent results with clients, I work extensively with Brainspotting as a brain-body modality. From long-standing trauma to the repetitive communication glitches with your spouse to overcoming self-esteem or body shaming issues to that resistant migraine that is decimating your days, and everything in between, I will offer you this technique as a doorway to healing, should you desire it.

Click here to read about my own Brainspotting journey.

I firmly believe that the intensity of the pain you feel does not require the same intensity to heal. You DO NOT need to relive your trauma to relieve yourself from its control. Frequently we will discuss the past to get passed it. Frequently the past will show up to help you connect to new solutions. Frequently I will invite you to “notice where you feel that experience in your body” and guide you along a somatic journey of discovery that gets you out of your head and into the wisdom of your body. Creative visioning, “parts work”, somatic exploration, mindfulness, and creative expression all play a role in sessions where suitable and welcomed by you, in addition to the therapy modalities I incorporate.

Remembering the theme from our last session, I will run ideas by you and point out emerging patterns. I will remind you of the shifts and changes you are making and bring you back to the here and now when you get stuck on a hamster wheel. I will be your empathic guide, your cheerleader, your tough love mirror, and your biggest fan. I show up as a human, in service to the honor and privilege of working with other humans through their most difficult moments. As the psychologist Irwin Yalom famously said, “We are all in this together.”

I am right here with you, every step of the journey, to help you meet your ultimate goal: Living Your Best Life.

My Narrative-Based Therapeutic Approach

Throughout this collaborative process of constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing your story, remember that you are the expert of your life. Your foot is on the gas and your hands are on the wheel. You are in charge of taking inspired action, to re-write a story that reshapes your life, your community, and our world, for the better. Are you ready to begin?

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My Narrative-Based Therapeutic Approach

We are all born into familial, cultural, and geo-political stories and believe they are fixed and True with a capital “T.” Since these groups are the dominant powers in our social circles, these stories influence how we make meaning out of our lives. The resulting sociocultural values, beliefs, and perceptions shape and influence every decision, story, and lifestyle choice. At some point many may wonder, “Is this really who I am, who I want to be, or how I want to live my life?”

This is the moment of freedom, when you realize that you are the author of your own life. When you realize that all stories are real, they just are not necessarily The Truth. This is the foundation of my Narrative-Based Therapeutic Approach, known as social constructionism. The meanings of the stories of our life – I hate my job, I’m not smart enough, I’ve always done it this way, It’s always been this way and will never change – are socially-constructed and can be deconstructed. When you understand that stories are created, not born, you are ready to re-write your life story.

First we begin by bringing awareness to the stories that no longer serve you. Empower yourself by understanding how dominant narratives shaped and affected your decisions, goals, and choices to create the life you are now living. Greet these stories with compassion and kindness. Not only did you do the best you could with what you had in the moment…these beliefs likely saved your hide and need to be respected for the important role they played.

Then, we harness your creativity, strengths, and resources to encourage new stories to emerge. How do you change the script of your life while remaining a part of your important communities? How do you find this new version of “me” within the “we?” By finding new perspectives on the old stories that are more personally meaningful and just simply work better for you. By choosing new solutions for different outcomes. By putting new ideas and skills into practice and noticing the changes in your life unfold.

Throughout this collaborative process of constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing your story, remember that you are the expert of your life. Your foot is on the gas and your hands are on the wheel. You are in charge of taking inspired action, to re-write a story that reshapes your life, your community, and our world, for the better.

Are you ready to begin?

Therapeutic Modalities

Brainspotting
Narrative Therapy
Family Systems Therapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Solution-Focused Therapy
Trauma-informed Therapies
Body-centered Therapies
Expressive Arts Therapy (Writing)
Spiritual Therapy (Interfaith and Jewish)
Mindfulness Practices
Nonviolent Communication

Professional Credentials

Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
Master of Arts in Counseling
Master of Public Health
Certified Brainspotting Consultant
Published Author and Poet
Ordained Interfaith Minister
Jewish Lay Leader/Educator
Certifications in Career Counseling

Professional Values

COMPASSION

To hold others and myself with authentic compassion to honor the circumstances that shaped our lives and the ways we each struggle and thrive.

CLIENT SELF-DETERMINATION AND AGENCY

To respectfully follow the lead of clients as they determine and choose the path and outcomes of their lives (excepting cases of self-harm or harm to others).