Who I work with
Most of my clients are somewhere in the middle of midlife, typically in their 40s through early 60s, and navigating some kind of shift that doesn't have a simple name.
From the outside, things look fine. Successful career, established relationships, a life that's full by any reasonable measure. But something has changed, or is changing, and the old ways of handling it aren't working anymore.
Maybe you've spent years building a career that used to feel meaningful and now feels like a treadmill. Maybe your marriage has gone quiet in a way that worries you but feels too complicated to address. Maybe your kids have grown up and left and you're staring at a version of your life you don't quite recognize. Maybe a parent is declining and you're carrying that weight while also confronting your own aging in a way no one prepared you for. Maybe nothing dramatic has happened at all. Things just feel flat, and you can't point to a reason.
What most of my clients share isn't a specific life event. It's a pattern. They've spent years being the competent one, the dependable one, the person who holds things together. And somewhere along the way they stopped asking what they actually need. Now that question is getting louder and they don't have a good answer for it.
If that sounds familiar, you're not unusual. And you're not broken. You're in a transition that most people go through but few people talk about honestly. Therapy can be the place where you finally do.
How I work
My approach is rooted in psychodynamic therapy, which means I'm interested in patterns. Not just what's happening now, but how the ways you learned to cope, connect, and protect yourself earlier in life are showing up in the present. Most of the time, the strategies that feel like problems today were once solutions. Understanding that changes how you relate to yourself.
That said, I don't spend sessions lecturing about theory. Sessions with me feel like real conversations. I ask questions. I notice things and I name them. I'll gently point out when you're doing the thing you always do, whether that's deflecting with humor, intellectualizing something that's actually painful, or rushing to make someone else comfortable at your own expense. I do this with care, but I do it directly. I've found that people in midlife, especially smart, capable people who've spent years managing how they're perceived, need a therapist who's willing to be honest with them, not just supportive.
I'm warm but I'm not passive. I'll sit with you in the hard stuff and I won't rush you through it. But I also won't let you circle the same question for months without gently asking what's keeping you from moving closer to an answer.
The goal isn't for you to be in therapy forever. The goal is for you to get clear enough, and honest enough with yourself, that you can trust your own judgment again.
What to expect
The first session
The first session is about getting oriented. I'll ask about what's bringing you in, what you're hoping for, and enough of your history to start understanding the bigger picture. You don't need to have it all figured out before you come in. Most people don't. It's also a chance for you to get a feel for me and for the space. By the end of the first session, we'll talk about whether it makes sense to keep going together.
The rhythm of therapy
I typically meet with clients weekly for the first few months. That consistency matters, especially early on. It builds momentum and it gives us enough contact that the work can actually go somewhere rather than resetting every time we meet. As things stabilize, many clients shift to biweekly sessions. Some eventually move to monthly check-ins. There's no rigid formula. We figure out what works as we go.
How long therapy lasts
That depends on what you're working through and what you want from the process. Some clients come for six months and get what they need. Others stay for a year or longer because the work keeps opening up in meaningful ways. I'm honest with clients about where I think we are, and I'll tell you if I think we've reached a natural stopping point. I'm not interested in creating dependency.
Start with a conversation
Before we commit to anything, I offer a free 20-minute phone consultation. It's not an intake session and it's not a sales pitch. It's just a chance for us to talk.
You can tell me a little about what's going on and what you're looking for. I can tell you about how I work and what therapy with me looks like. And we can both get a sense of whether the fit feels right.
I believe the relationship between therapist and client matters more than any technique or credential. This call is how that relationship starts.
“I came in thinking I needed to fix something specific. Claire helped me see that what I actually needed was to stop performing and start being honest with myself about what I want. That sounds simple but it changed everything.”
— Michelle, age 52
Ready to start?
If anything on this page felt familiar, that's a good sign. It means this might be the right fit. The next step is simple: a 20-minute phone call where we can talk and see how it feels.
Schedule a free consultation