About Thrive Counseling
Teletherapy Services
My mission is to support professional women manage their anxiety and stress through personalized therapy (DC, MD, VA) and coaching (all locations) services grounded in neuroscience and client-centered care. By prioritizing self-care, we empower women to take full ownership of all aspects of their lives so they can feel healthier, happier, and whole.
I’m so glad you made it!
It’s finally your time!
As a woman, you often feel like you have to be always on and ready to give. While this obligation deeply resonates with your understanding of who you are, another part of you resents it. Being everything to everyone is now irritating you, and you just don’t have the capacity for it anymore. You are working hard to maintain the status quo, but secretly you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, just trying to keep your head above water.
It’s getting harder to bury your feelings and keep moving, but you also know you cannot afford to stop.
What are you supposed to do?
It’s time you start taking care of yourself.
What took you so long??
I know what took you so long… trying to do it all by yourself. Your attempts have included, but have not been limited to…
Trying to manage everything on your own while silently suffering from anxiety and depression.
Numbing your feelings through food, sex, alcohol, or shopping.
Escaping feelings by staying busy, burying yourself in work, entertainment, social media, or oversleeping.
Overcompensating for feelings of low self-worth by pressuring yourself to go above and beyond, even at your own expense.
Attempting to be perfect at everything or at least appearing perfect to hide your weaknesses.
Ignoring your need for additional support, believing that your faith should be sufficient.
Avoiding feelings of vulnerability and hurt, focusing on moving forward, thinking you can leave the hurt behind.
Talking to friends who either don’t understand, give harsh advice, or end up turning the conversations around, making it all about them.
Being extra hard on yourself, thinking that maybe you’ll be able to whip yourself into shape when it’s driving you deeper into the feelings and behaviors you are trying to overcome.
Tell me… what are you looking to change?
Do you find yourself stuck with mindsets and behaviors that feed your anxiety but do not know how to stop? Do you see yourself in one of the archetypes below:
The Good Girl
Main Belief: I must always appease others so that people will think well of me.
Biggest Fear: Being seen as bad means “I am bad.”
Mindset Mayhems:
- Worrying about what other people think of you
- Feeling like you always have to be nice, even if it means swallowing your feelings, thoughts, or needs
- Always being overly considerate of the needs of others while completely disconnected from your own
The Overachiever
Main Belief: I am what I achieve.
Biggest Fear: Facing feelings of weakness and low self-worth, as well as being exposed to others.
Mindset Mayhems:
- Feeling like you always have to be perfect to be seen as acceptable
- Valuing the opinions others have about you above your opinion of yourself
- Only viewing your worth in terms of what you have achieved, but not in your inherent humanity
- Secretly or overtly competing against others to determine how you measure up
- Overly harsh and judgmental toward yourself when you do not meet your rigid expectations or make a mistake
The Strong One
Main Belief: I do not need anyone. I can and will do it on my own.
Biggest Fear: Trusting and being vulnerable, which could lead to being disappointed and hurt
Mindset Mayhems:
- Disregarding your feelings and needs (who needs feelings) and tolerating other people who disregard your feelings and needs
- Not wanting to impose on others even when you need their help
- Not communicating your needs, but feeling resentful when others don’t consider them
- Feeling like your over-independence is keeping you from intimacy and support
- Wanting to be softer but afraid of being vulnerable
- Not trusting others when really you don’t trust yourself
Each of these archetypes is grounded in an attempt to survive emotionally. In therapy, we will create space to discover what keeps you stuck in these survival mindsets that are no longer effective or healthy.
If we’re going to get to the juicy stuff…
We have to have a good relationship first. That’s really the most important thing in our work together. If you’re not comfortable with me, you can’t be open to sharing your life.
That’s why I intentionally eliminate all the stuffy, pretentious energy often associated with therapy in our initial sessions. Instead, we’ll chat it up like long-lost friends. It’ll be “the girlfriend experience,” only we’ll be on screen together.
So, pull up your favorite chair and get your tea or coffee. Let’s start this journey by getting to know each other!
But make no mistake: This isn’t a social get-together.
Our top priority will be your safety.
I respect and understand how scary the decision to come into therapy can be; your actual first therapy session is even more daunting. I want to assure you that the primary goal is to build a rapport with one another.
You do not have to share anything you are not ready to share. We will follow your pace, focusing only on what you want to focus on. I may ask a few questions to better understand your background, but you will not be pressured to go faster than you’re ready. There’s no need to rush.
If you’re having a hard time getting started for whatever reason, no worries. I know how to get the ball rolling to avoid the awkward silence that can feel mortifying in unfamiliar company. Our conversation will be lighthearted, creating space for comfort and safety.
From our first session, when you share with me, I will listen with a clinical ear, actively relying on my skills to provide the utmost professional response to help you heal.
As we explore your life, I will educate you about how your brain and its anxiety response show up in your life.
This is where the bulk of our work will take place.
As you start to understand your anxiety response…
You’ll see a drastic change in how you relate to yourself.
With more self-understanding comes greater self-compassion and a commitment to prioritizing self-care.
You’ll start stepping out of the roles and expectations you’ve felt obligated to uphold and step into the freedom of your authentic self!
About Me
It takes one to know one.
I greatly appreciate the work you’re about to do because I’ve been doing it myself… for a while.
I’ve been “The Strong One,” “The Overachiever,” AND (definitely!) “The Good Girl.”
I am very familiar with the archetypes mentioned above because I identified with each one at some point in my life. I was first the good girl who became the overachiever and defined herself by being the strong one.
Early on in childhood, I felt most safe when I received the approval of my parents and other authority figures. So my strong desire to be a good girl began to get crafted. This good girl identity extended to the classroom as a student.
The overachiever was born when I started to define how good I was based on how much I achieved in school. The positive feedback and growing opportunities this identity afforded me only deepened my commitment to perform perfectly at all times. I evaluated my value by how I measured up compared to my classmates or my past outcomes.
To ensure I stayed the course and did not slack, I pressured myself consistently to be strong, not allowing any excuses, needs, or feelings to stop my progress… the Strong One identity finally arrived.
By my early 20s, these unsustainable mindsets contributed to high stress and fluctuations of anxiety and depression from which I sought relief.
Trying to figure me out turned into a career.
I knew I wanted to be a therapist since high school when it was evident that many people trusted me and told me very personal things that I kept in confidence. So I pursued psychology at Eastern University as an undergrad. This was not just to start a career but to improve my understanding of myself.
The experience I gained as an AmeriCorps volunteer who lived in a transition home with women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions gave me my initial exposure to the importance of taking care of one’s mental health – and the consequences when someone did not. Watching the women have to learn and prioritize their self-care to reach their sobriety goals was the most impactful learning experience that any classroom ever offered me. Completing my Americorp volunteer year only deepened my desire to be a therapist. As a result, I pursued my social work degree at Howard University.
Compiling all these experiences was the stepping stones to the professional approach I would use with you as we navigate your therapeutic process. I would do everything with you in a session I have done and continue to do with myself.
As I gained more experience as a woman and therapist, I started to appreciate how anxiety keeps us from living our best lives. As a result, I became a certified anxiety specialist and incorporated that education into my work and personal life.
I’m a big believer in self-care!
Raising two energetic boys with my husband constantly reminds me of the importance of self-care.
As much as I love being a mother, it is a role that requires a level of giving that is constant and can be overwhelming at times. Intentional parenting demands that I create space for my wellness. If I don’t, my ability to be effective in mothering will be compromised by an irritable mood, low energy, limited patience, and anxious survival mode.
That’s why I deliberately engage in several activities to help manage that anxiety: weightlifting, tennis, and dancing are my favorites!
I’m ready to embark on this journey with you!
It took so much work for you to get to the place to decide that therapy might be for you.
Congratulations on taking such a big step. You owe it to yourself to continue the journey.
Peace is possible, and it is waiting for you on the other side of this phone call.
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”
–Lao Tzu