Ehlers Danlos, POTS, MCAS & other 
Chronic Health Conditions

Therapy for the Emotional Challenges of Living with Chronic Illness

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I provide specialized mental health therapy for individuals living with chronic and complex health conditions, including Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), migraines, and fibromyalgia.

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Living with a chronic illness can be challenging in ways that others don't always see. You may look “fine” on the outside while coping with chronic pain, fatigue, medical trauma, ableism, or the emotional toll of having a condition that others may not understand. It can feel incredibly lonely when the people around you don't fully understand what you're experiencing.

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Navigating healthcare can be exhausting, too. Finding knowledgeable medical professionals, getting an accurate diagnosis, coordinating care, and building a healthcare team you trust can take an enormous amount of time and energy.

You don't have to navigate all of this alone. Your symptoms and experiences deserve to be taken seriously, and you deserve support. Therapy can offer a space where you feel heard, understood, and supported as you navigate the emotional and practical challenges of living with chronic illness.

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How Therapy Can Help

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Together, we can explore the many ways chronic illness affects your life, relationships, identity, and emotional well-being. Our work may include:

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• Coping with chronic pain and fatigue

• Managing anxiety and depression

• Navigating sleep difficulties

• Processing grief and loss

• Healing from medical trauma

• Coping with the challenges of living with an invisible illness

• Navigating healthcare systems and advocating for your needs

• Communicating with family, friends, and healthcare professionals

• Exploring workplace accommodations, medical leave, and changes in work capacity

• Understanding how intersecting identities shape your experiences of illness and access to care

• Navigating parenting while living with hEDS or HSD

• Coping with the emotional demands of caring for a loved one with chronic illness​

 

Our work will be guided by your individual needs, experiences, and goals. You don't have to minimize what you're going through or prove how much you're struggling to deserve support.

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My Approach to Chronic Illness and Mental Health

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People sometimes ask what drew me to the intersection of mental health and physical illness. I'm interested in how our physical health, emotional well-being, relationships, and lived experiences influence one another—and in helping people find support for the challenges that often go unrecognized.

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I continue to deepen my understanding of hEDS and HSD through educational trainings offered by the Ehlers-Danlos Society, including its ECHO program. These learning opportunities help me stay informed about new research and best approaches to care for people living with these conditions.

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I also have training in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), an approach that explores the relationship between the brain, nervous system, and chronic pain.

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Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)

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Pain Reprocessing Therapy is an approach designed to help people understand and change the brain's learned responses to certain types of chronic pain. Research suggests that, for some people, pain can persist or become amplified by changes in how the brain and nervous system process danger signals—even when there is no ongoing tissue damage that fully explains the pain.

PRT uses education, awareness, and therapeutic techniques to help people respond to pain with less fear and to reconsider whether some pain signals may reflect an overprotective nervous system. The goal is to reduce pain-related distress and, for some people, pain itself.

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PRT may be helpful for some forms of chronic pain, including pain associated with:

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• Chronic back and neck pain

• Fibromyalgia and widespread body pain

• Migraines and chronic headaches

• Repetitive strain injuries

• Certain types of persistent nerve pain or joint discomfort

 

PRT is not appropriate for every pain condition, and it does not mean that pain is imaginary or that physical illness is “all in your head.” Chronic pain can have multiple contributing factors, and physical symptoms deserve appropriate medical evaluation and care.

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My goal is to offer a compassionate, collaborative space where your physical experiences are respected and your emotional well-being matters. Whether you're coping with pain, fatigue, medical trauma, uncertainty, or the isolation that can accompany chronic illness, you deserve care that recognizes the whole person.

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If you're living with a chronic health condition and looking for a therapist who understands the emotional toll of navigating illness, I invite you to reach out via my contact form linked below. We can explore whether working together feels like a good fit.