Client Resources
Tools, books, and resources I recommend to clients.
These are resources I return to and recommend regularly — curated for current clients and anyone on a path of self-understanding. If you're in therapy with me, this is a good place to explore between sessions.
Amir Levine & Rachel Heller on attachment styles — why we connect the way we do, and how to build more secure relationships. Especially helpful for anxious attachment patterns.
Daniel Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson on how a parent's consistent presence shapes children's brains and emotional lives. One of the most important parenting books I know of.
Meg Josephson's book for those navigating the relational hypervigilance and emotional patterns that come with complex trauma — feeling like you're always scanning for disapproval.
A practical, science-based guide to understanding and thriving with ADHD. Valuable for adults with ADHD and parents of kids who have recently been diagnosed.
David Brooks on the art of truly seeing and understanding another human being — and what it means to actually be known. For clients who want to build deeper connections.
Dr. Marisa G. Franco uses attachment science to explain how to make and keep deep, lasting friendships — a topic therapy doesn't address nearly enough.
A structured companion for OCD treatment — built around self-compassion rather than self-criticism. Used in session and as a resource between appointments.
View on Amazon →Kimberley Quinlan's podcast is one of my favorites for clients with intrusive thoughts and OCD. This mindfulness episode is one I've shared many times recently.
Listen on Apple Podcasts →A self-care tracking app where you take care of a little virtual bird by completing daily check-ins and personal goals. Surprisingly effective for building self-compassion habits.
An emotion-tracking app that helps you identify, name, and understand your feelings — great for building emotional intelligence and self-awareness between sessions.
For clients managing suicidal ideation — a structured, personalized safety planning app developed by the VA. Simple, private, and clinically grounded.
A daily tracker for sobriety and recovery goals, with milestones and community support. Useful for clients working on addiction or habitual behaviors they want to change.
A VA-developed app for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia — one of the most effective non-medication approaches for persistent sleep difficulties.
App-blocking and timer tool for your phone — helpful for reducing digital distraction, protecting your attention, and setting healthier boundaries with technology.
An ADHD-friendly time-blocking, scheduling, and visual timer app. Designed to make daily routines more manageable and less overwhelming for ADHD brains.
From Huberman Lab. NSDR is a guided rest protocol (similar to Yoga Nidra) that promotes nervous system recovery without sleep. A powerful midday reset.
Watch on YouTube →A longer version of the Huberman Lab NSDR protocol — excellent for stress recovery, improving sleep quality, and nervous system regulation.
Watch on YouTube →A free meditation app with thousands of guided sessions — including Yoga Nidra for sleep, body scans, and breathwork. Great for beginners and experienced meditators alike.
My current go-to recommendation for learning your type — well-researched, nuanced, and avoids the common oversimplifications. Includes a free test to get started.
Take the free test →The foundational resource for Enneagram education — includes in-depth type descriptions, wings, instinctual variants, and levels of development.
For clients who may benefit from a psychiatric evaluation or medication support alongside therapy. Located in Orem, UT. Able to accept many of the same insurance plans.
A step-by-step skill for sitting with difficult emotions rather than pushing them away:
N — Notice & name the emotion. Just identifying it ("I'm feeling anxious") creates a little distance.
I — Invite it to stay. Instead of fighting it, let it be there. Resistance often amplifies.
C — Curious: Why are you here? What threads are attached? Get gently inquisitive, not judgmental.
E — Embrace the emotion. Bring some compassion to it — it's there for a reason.
R — Return to the present moment using grounding skills (like 5-4-3-2-1 sensory grounding), then continue with your day, schedule, values, or goals.
Temperature · Intense exercise · Paced breathing · Progressive muscle relaxation. A DBT skill for quickly bringing your body out of a high-emotion state by changing your physical experience first — because sometimes the body needs to shift before the mind can follow.
Press your thumb and each finger together one at a time while breathing slowly and intentionally. Each finger directs your breath to a different part of your body:
👆 Pointer finger — breathe into your chest
🖕 Middle finger — breathe into your rib cage
💍 Ring finger — breathe into your belly
🤙 Pinky — breathe into your pelvic floor
A simple, discreet tool you can use anywhere to bring breath — and awareness — into different layers of the body.
Deliberately widening your visual field (panoramic vision) or softening your gaze can shift your nervous system from a stressed, narrow-focus state toward a calmer, more open one. A research-backed tool from neuroscience for regulating arousal without doing anything obvious.
When you're shut down or frozen, the goal isn't to do everything — it's to pick up a hand, or lift a foot, and go slowly from there. Tiny, intentional movement can interrupt a freeze state and begin to bring your system back online gently.
When the to-do list feels crushing, list everything out and sort it into four boxes: Urgent + Important (do now) · Important, not urgent (schedule) · Urgent, not important (delegate) · Neither (let go). Helps separate real priorities from noise.
For moments of pure overwhelm or emotional shutdown — when motivation is gone and nothing sounds worth doing. This structured tool helps you identify small, manageable actions that match your current capacity and gently rebuild momentum. Used in session for depression and shutdown states.
Stop what you're doing · Take a breath · Observe what's happening inside you · Proceed with your values in mind. A brief pause practice for hard conversations and reactive moments — creates space between impulse and action.
A core CBT tool for examining the connection between situations, automatic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Helps you notice distorted thinking patterns and gently test whether they're accurate — not to think positively, but to think more clearly.
A DBT interpersonal effectiveness skill for asking for what you need or saying no, while keeping the relationship intact. Describe · Express · Assert · Reinforce · Mindful · Appear confident · Negotiate.
When an emotion is driving you toward a behavior that makes things worse, deliberately doing the opposite can shift the emotion itself. A counterintuitive but powerful DBT skill — especially for shame, fear, and anger.
Learning to see thoughts as thoughts — not facts. Instead of "I am a failure," try "I'm having the thought that I'm a failure." Small shift, big difference. An ACT technique for loosening the grip of difficult self-narratives.
A core NARM practice — turning attention toward what's happening in your body and emotional experience with curiosity rather than urgency. Not every sensation needs to be solved. Sometimes just being witnessed, even by yourself, is what shifts things.
OCD feeds on the need for certainty. ERP involves intentionally tolerating the discomfort of not knowing — and learning through experience that you can handle it without a compulsion. Done gradually, with support, and always with self-compassion.