I have Type 1 Diabetes, with my own experiences and ideas of what it's like to live with.

Diabetes is anything but stable in terms of the severity of its fluctuating symptoms. It can isolate us, and make us worry or fearful of what the future may hold. Diabetes can have psychological impacts on a person, in addition to the physical toll it takes. What effects has diabetes had on you and your family? What are some of the ways it has tried to limit your life? Has it placed a stigma on you?

And I'll listen very carefully to your stories of diabetes, what it's like for you, and where the obstacles and challenges lie for you. Living with diabetes, whether Type 1 or Type 2, is hard work. It is anything but stable in terms of the severity of its fluctuating symptoms. It can isolate us, make us worry or fearful of what the future may hold, and impacts us emotionally, all in addition to the physical toll it takes. What effects has diabetes had on you and your family? What are some of the ways it has tried to limit your life? Has it placed a stigma on you?

I'll help you find ways to challenge and cope with the psychological impacts of diabetes and manage overwhelming emotions, including frustration, guilt, shame, blame, depression, discouragement, or loss of hope. Working together we'll craft plans to remove barriers to self-care, and come up with strategies to live with complications, if needed. If it is hard to communicate with doctors in ways they can hear and understand what you're telling them, we can work to help you have an active voice in your care. You'll be able to acknowledge who you are now, appreciating that person, and what hard work it took to get here.

As the parent of a son with Type 1 Diabetes, I am heart-felt in my desire to help parents who have a child or teen with diabetes. All at once, you are called upon to be a nurse, physician, dietitian, and psychologist while trying to deal with your own emotions and feelings about this diagnosis. Let's find ways for you to creatively adapt and cultivate a sense of wellness for yourself and your family by discovering and utilizing your resources, skills, and ideas.

I meet with children, teens and adults, as well as their family or partners, to find ways to incorporate diabetes into their lives.

Are you struggling with both diabetes and an eating disorder, named diabulimia? What ways does diabulimia interfere with how you want to live your life? When an eating disorder and diabetes occur together, a media term known as Diabulimia, yet another layer of danger exists. Having lived with Type 1 diabetes for much of my life, as well as successfully recovered from an eating disorder, I understand the complexities of how diabetes and an eating disorder operate in your life, and the ways it uses diabetes management against you. Recovery from diabulimia requires a team of healthcare professionals to support you in this process. As a counselor on this team, I am devoted to collaborating with you to find ways to confront it, create skills that promote self-care with diabetes while letting go of the eating disorder's influence, discover new ways of tolerating strong emotions, and manage times of distress. We can work to bring hope back into your life, and see alternative perspectives for who you are, and how you want to define yourself. I will work to support you in constructing a life apart from diabulimia and into the life you choose to live.

I offer support and consultation for families and couples to assist you in your journey to recovery.

"Once you stop blaming yourself you can see the eating disorder's tactics against you. It is not your fault and now you can do something to reclaim your life."

Other Medical Conditions

Is your life increasingly organized by a chronic or acute illness?

Are there times you give up talking about what you feel because others don't understand?

Does illness affect your relationships with others? At times do you get left out of activities with friends and family because of the limitations your illness places on you?

What benefits can psychotherapy or counseling provide to you?

Whether you've recently become ill, with cancer or another illness, or have lived with this for some time, illness can bring out the best and the worst in us. It can be helpful to engage in conversations that reconstruct your own sense of value and worth, purpose, fulfillment in life, and learn strategies to deal with a changing body, nostalgia or grief, sadness or discouragement. We can work together to help you reconnect with your knowledge of coping skills that work for you, and create new skills to draw upon. Sometimes illness can make it challenging to deal with other people in your life. We can find ways to improve these relationships and let others understand what you experience.

Do you have a child or another family member with an illness which requires your help or management? What challenges and changes does this bring to family life? Talking about your concerns as well as your successes in navigating this difficult course can be helpful in considering what may work better, or reaffirming that you're on the right path.

I offer consultation and support for families, couples, and caregivers affected by illness, as well as bereavement, grief, and loss.

"How we talk about illness, with ourselves and others, shapes the way we experience it."