Hi, I'm Amanda. 

I'm a clinical psychologist providing online counseling to residents of Indiana. I'm also a dog mom, avid reader, ballroom dancer, coffee lover, and social introvert.

My Approach

The best way to describe me as a therapist might be “real.”  I'm not the therapist who spends the entire session teaching coping strategies, nor am I the therapist who sits and nods. I ask clients to come to sessions with a sense of what they would like to discuss so that sessions can then be a back and forth conversation in which we’re both actively participating. 

In therapy, I will:

• Validate your feelings and how hard life can be sometimes.
• Point out patterns that I notice in your thoughts and behaviors, as well as how these might be contributing to your distress.
• Bring a new perspective, so that you can begin creating a new narrative around your concerns.
• Encourage you to think about how you might do some things differently and make changes that are aligned with your values and goals. 
• Help you to create a pathway of small steps forward.​

​Although counseling often involves discussing more serious issues, I like to use humor and find that it can add to the therapeutic process when we’re able to laugh and joke at times.  

​I’m a likely a good fit for you if:

• You’re in your 30s and 40s and struggling with life transitions, such as considering a job or career change, or going through a divorce or wanting to end a relationship.
• You're typically ambitious and driven, and yet you feel stuck in life's challenges.
• You’re an analytical thinker, and your analysis of your life is making you feel stuck and paralyzed, rather than propelling you forward.

• You want to thrive in life, rather than survive
• You feel ready to talk about your thoughts, feelings, and concerns, even if you’re not ready to make any changes yet​
• You feel willing to take in new perspectives and ideas
• ​You’re willing to work towards making changes that fit with your values and goals  

How Therapy Works

One of my approaches to counseling is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT).  This means that as you share the narrative of your life with me, I start noticing and paying attention to patterns in how you think about things or perceive the world, as well as how you make decisions.  For example, I might notice that as you’re talking about how work is going, that you’re mainly focused on your flaws rather than your strengths.  I’ll also help you to identify the beliefs that are at the core of those thoughts, such as “I’m a failure if I’m not perfect.”

I also incorporate aspects of psychodynamic theory into my work.  No, we’re not going to talk about Freud, but I am going to ask you about your family relationships, since it’s just about inevitable that those past relationships are impacting your current relationships.  We’ll talk about whether there are any parallels between what’s playing out in your current relationships and what you learned about relationships growing up.

Mindfulness is also a key component of my approach.  The oversimplified definition of mindfulness is “nonjudgmental awareness”, but this is much simpler in concept than it is in practice.  There are a lot of myths about mindfulness, and I see one of my goals as helping you to understand what mindfulness actually is and to use it in a way that feels manageable to you.  This involves helping you to become more aware of when you are living in either the past or the future, whether this is helping or hurting, and to redirect your attention to the present when you’re aware that it’s hurting.  

In addition, there are a number of topics that I feel passionate about, especially since they pop up frequently with most of my clients, so you’ll probably hear me mention them at some point in the therapy process:

Self-Compassion
Whether you’re dealing with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, etc., you might notice that there is also some level of self-criticism lurking behind the door.  There’s a pervasive myth that self-criticism is motivating, and yet it’s actually very paralyzing and prevents people from working towards their values and goals. Self-compassion is the process of being kinder to oneself, recognizing the common humanity in experienced emotions, and being mindful.  The go-to researcher in this area is Dr. Kristin Neff, who wrote the book “Self-Compassion.”

Vulnerability / Authenticity
If you’ve been introduced to Brene Brown, then you’ve been introduced to the topic of vulnerability. All of us struggle with being vulnerable and being authentic to some extent. We’re social creatures by nature, and being vulnerable and authentic means feeling like we’re risking our connections and relationships with others. But fear of vulnerability can turn us into chameleons, constantly blending in with our surroundings, which actually prevents us from forming the connections that we’re striving for.​

Balance / Self-Care
We live in a society that teaches us that success means working 60 hours a week, making six figures, and or buying the newest car or the biggest house.  We accept this as the norm because this is what we are used to or are taught. However many cultures do not live like this, and those are the cultures that tend to live happier and more fulfilling lives.  Just because we live in this type of society doesn’t mean that we can’t set boundaries, devote time to the things that are important to us, and create more balance in our lives.

My Experiences

For those of you interested in my former experiences in training, here is the cliff notes version of my CV:

• 2012 - Graduated from Bowling Green State University with a PhD in clinical psychology
• 2011-2012 - Completed an internship at the University of Pittsburgh’s Counseling Center
• 2012-2013 - Completed a post-doctoral fellowship at West Virginia University’s Carruth Center for Psychological and Psychiatric Services
• 2013-2015 - Worked as a Staff Psychologist at West Virginia University’s Carruth Center for Psychological and Psychiatric Services
• 2015 - Present - Worked in private practice in Bloomington, Indiana

Next Steps

Please email me at [email protected] or call 812-606-2919 to talk about whether I would be a good fit for you.