College & Graduate Students
College and graduate school can be exciting, expansive years, and they can also bring experiences that are difficult to navigate alone.
Sexual assault. An unhealthy or abusive relationship. A painful breakup. Something from earlier in your life that is showing up differently now. Or patterns in relationships, anxiety, shame, or self-doubt that are getting in the way of the life you want to be living.
Sometimes the support available through a college counseling center is exactly what you need. And sometimes you need more time, greater specialization, or a different kind of therapeutic experience.
I offer specialized individual therapy and therapeutic intensives for college and graduate students who want help understanding what they’ve been through, working through what is keeping them stuck, and moving forward with greater clarity and confidence.
Areas I Can Help With
I have extensive experience working with trauma and with young adults navigating complex experiences and relationships, including:
- Sexual assault and unwanted sexual experiences
- Interpersonal violence and abusive or controlling relationships
- Trauma and PTSD
- Difficult relationship patterns
- Breakups, betrayal, rejection, and loss
- Shame and self-blame
- Anxiety and feeling overwhelmed or stuck
- Experiences from earlier in life that are affecting you now
- Major transitions, identity, and questions about what comes next
You don't need to know exactly what is “wrong,” have a diagnosis, or know what kind of therapy you need before reaching out. We can start by talking about what is happening and what you hope might be different.
Individual Therapy
For students who want ongoing support, I offer individual therapy via telehealth.
Because I am licensed in North Carolina and Massachusetts and authorized to practice through PSYPACT, I am able to work virtually with students located in most U.S. states.
For some students, ongoing weekly therapy is the right fit. For others — particularly when there is a specific experience or issue they want to work through — a therapeutic intensive can offer another option.
Why Consider a Therapeutic Intensive During College?
Traditional therapy usually asks you to take whatever you're working on and fit it into a 50-minute hour. For many concerns, that works well.
But some experiences are harder to work through in small pieces.
A therapeutic intensive creates dedicated time to focus on something important without repeatedly having to get started, go somewhere difficult, and then stop because the hour is over. We have time to understand what happened, notice how it continues to affect you, and work more deeply with the thoughts, emotions, and patterns that have developed around it.
For a college or graduate student, an intensive can also solve some very practical problems.
You may have a demanding academic schedule that makes consistent weekly appointments difficult. You may attend school far from home. You may move between states during the year. Or you may already have a therapist or counselor you value and simply need more specialized help with one particular issue.
An intensive can create a contained period of time — perhaps over a long weekend or school break — to focus on that work.
A Focused Experience, Not a Commitment to Years of Therapy
The word intensive can sound intimidating. It doesn't mean that something is terribly wrong with you or that you'll spend three days talking nonstop about the worst thing that has ever happened to you.
It simply means we have more time.
We decide together what you want to work on, what feels manageable, and how we will use our time. An intensive is highly individualized and may include conversation, evidence-based trauma treatment, reflection and writing, mindfulness and body awareness, movement, time outdoors, and other approaches depending on what is useful to you.
You remain an active participant throughout the process. Nothing is forced, and there is room to slow down, take breaks, change direction, laugh, eat, walk outside, and simply be a person while doing meaningful therapeutic work.
Learn more about Therapeutic Intensives →
Coming to Durham for an Intensive
If you're considering traveling to Durham for an intensive, it is completely understandable if the idea of getting on a plane, coming to an unfamiliar place, and meeting a psychologist you've never met before feels like a lot.
We won't meet for the first time when you arrive.
Before scheduling an intensive, we'll meet virtually so that I can learn about you, understand what you're hoping to work on, and make sure an intensive is an appropriate fit. You'll have an opportunity to get a sense of me, ask questions, and talk through any concerns you have about the therapy itself or about coming to Durham.
If we decide to work together, we'll plan the experience collaboratively before you travel so that you know what to expect.
Intensives are held in a comfortable, private setting in the Durham/Chapel Hill area, approximately 15–30 minutes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).
Students traveling from outside the area arrange their own accommodations at a nearby hotel or short-term rental and their own transportation to and from sessions, typically by rental car or rideshare. I can provide information about the area and help you understand the logistics as you plan your trip.
For Parents
College and graduate students are adults, and their privacy in therapy matters. At the same time, I recognize that parents are often helping their young adult find care, paying for treatment, or supporting the logistics of traveling to Durham.
With the student's permission, I am happy to speak with parents before an intensive to answer questions about my credentials, the intensive format, travel and logistical considerations, and what they can expect from the process.
Once therapy begins, the same standards of confidentiality that apply to any adult client apply here. I won't share the content of a student's therapy without their permission, except in circumstances in which disclosure is required by law.
My goal is for both the student and the people supporting them to feel comfortable with the plan before they make the trip.
Specialized Experience With Trauma and Young Adults
I am a clinical and developmental psychologist with more than 20 years of experience. Trauma has been a significant focus of my clinical work throughout my career, including specialized work with survivors of sexual assault and interpersonal violence and with college students navigating trauma and its aftermath.
My approach is active, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based trauma treatment, including Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), exposure-based approaches, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness, and an understanding of how our experiences and relationships shape us over time.
Just as importantly, I don't approach you as a diagnosis or a problem to solve. My role is to bring experience, structure, and perspective to the work while remaining curious about your particular experience — what happened, how you've adapted, what matters to you now, and where you want to go from here.
Not Sure What Kind of Support You Need?
You don't need to decide between individual therapy and an intensive before contacting me.
We can start with a conversation about what is bringing you here, what support you already have, and what you're hoping to change. From there, we can think together about whether ongoing individual therapy, a therapeutic intensive, or another resource would make the most sense.