Therapy that focuses on your internal experience as a parent rather than just teaching behavior management techniques.
A lot of parents arrive at therapy carrying something specific like a reactivity that feels out of proportion or an anxiety about their child that refuses to quiet down. You might even recognize that the way you relate to your child echoes something from your own upbringing. You love your child, but something keeps getting activated. The work here is not about learning new parenting techniques. It explores the deeper emotional patterns underneath what keeps happening.
There is an anxiety specific to parenting that is less about practical worry and more about something underneath. It looks like a fear of getting it wrong or a difficulty letting your child struggle. It is a vigilance that never fully relaxes. For many parents, this anxiety is not new at all. Parenting did not create it but rather gave it somewhere to land.
Some parents come in because of an intense reactivity. They get triggered by their child's behavior in ways that feel out of proportion, and the reaction that comes out is bigger or sharper than they intend. Often it is not really about the child. Something much older is getting hit.
Others recognize something more structural like a difficulty setting limits or an impulse toward emotional merging with the child. It can look like an overprotection that feels like love but functions like control. These patterns usually make perfect sense given a parent's own history.
The emotional patterns we carry from our own upbringing do not stay in the past. They show up in how we respond when someone we love is struggling or in how much emotional distance we can tolerate. They dictate what it means at a core level when a child is upset or pushes back or needs something we do not readily know how to give.
My approach draws on my training in enmeshment treatment. This is highly relevant when parents are navigating the line between their own feelings and their child's. It is useful when the boundary between your distress and their distress is unclear or where emotional closeness has become emotional entanglement. I am also trained in Coherence Therapy to work with the emotional logic underneath a pattern. We look at why it exists and how to help it permanently shift.
The focus is on you. We examine what gets activated in you as a parent, what it feels like to carry that, and where it seems to come from. Sessions are active and collaborative instead of me simply sitting back and reflecting.
The work is grounded in specific situations. We do not talk in the abstract about your childhood but rather work with what is currently alive right now and trace it where it leads. That might mean we end up in earlier territory, depending on what is most useful for creating change.
There is no set timeline. Some parents find clarity in a handful of sessions, while others spend more time working through longer-standing patterns. We can meet in person in Dallas or via telehealth throughout Texas.
I work with adults navigating relational and emotional patterns, including the specific ways those patterns surface in parenting. I am trained in enmeshment treatment, which I find especially relevant with parents working through the emotional inheritance of their own family-of-origin dynamics. I am also trained in Coherence Therapy and bring experience working with adults and families at SMU's Center for Family Counseling.
MS · LPC Associate · NCC
Supervised by Erin Wysong-Warren, LPC-S.
A virtual group for parents or caregivers looking for support and skills to encourage healthy development in their kids. The cost is $85 per session. Reach out directly if you are interested.
The group offers a structured and supportive space for parents who want to develop practical skills alongside others navigating similar challenges. We cover elements like managing reactivity, setting healthy limits, and building a more intentional relationship with your child.
Reach out to learn more →Currently accepting new clients
In-person (Dallas) & telehealth (Texas)
Do you work with my child directly, or with me as a parent?
With you — the adult parent — only. I don’t work with minors, and our sessions aren’t joint sessions with your child. The focus is entirely on your internal experience as a parent: what gets activated in you, what patterns are showing up, and what they’re connected to. If you’re looking for a therapist who works directly with your child or facilitates family sessions, I’d point you to someone whose scope includes that work.
I recognize some of my own upbringing in how I parent. Is that what you work with?
Yes, and it’s one of the most common things parents bring to this work. The emotional patterns we learned growing up — about closeness, distance, how feelings are handled — often show up in how we relate to our own children in ways that surprise us. My training in enmeshment treatment is directly relevant here, particularly when parents are working through the line between their feelings and their child’s, or noticing that family-of-origin dynamics are being replicated in ways they don’t want.
I’m not sure if my parenting challenges are “bad enough” to bring to therapy. Should I reach out anyway?
Yes. The threshold isn’t crisis — it’s noticing something you want to understand better or change. If you’re experiencing reactivity that bothers you, anxiety around your child that doesn’t respond to reassurance, or a pattern you can see but don’t know how to shift, that’s enough to make contact.
What’s the difference between this and family therapy?
Family therapy typically involves multiple family members in the room — focused on the relationship system and how the family functions as a unit. What I do with parents is individual therapy: one adult, working on their own patterns, history, and internal experience. I’m not trying to facilitate a relationship between you and your child. I’m working with you, on what gets activated in you and where it comes from.
How long does this kind of work take?
It varies, and I don’t operate from a set timeline. Some parents are working on something fairly specific and find a focused period of a few months is enough. Others are working through longer-standing patterns. The pace is set by what’s actually happening in the work.
Do you offer telehealth?
Yes. In-person at my Dallas office (4040 North Central Expressway, Suite 210) and via telehealth for anyone in Texas.
Free 15-minute consult. No pressure, no commitment.