If we’re meeting for the first time, I’m Dr. Mary Kate!

I am an expert in emotional sensitivity, and I am here to empower you to live the life you WANT to live.

I help people feel empowered.

I have been learning how to help other people since 2008, when I began my journey to better understand how to help people live their lives more fully.

I received my B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame, M.A. in Drama Therapy from New York University, and PsyD in Applied Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School.

Over the past eight years, I have been working as a therapist supporting a wide range of clients. My favorite clients to work with are highly sensitive people (HSPs). Feelers are the best, and they often feel alone in their experience. I am on a mission to change this by teaching skills and building a community for emotionally sensitive people.

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  • Psychology Today

  • Hop Skip Drive

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

  • NYP Methodist

  • University of Notre Dame

What makes me different

I understand how painful and overwhelming it can be to navigate big feelings on a daily basis. I am an emotionally sensitive person, and I learned these tools first to try and help myself get off the emotional rollercoaster. My history as a clinician helps me integrate techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and creative arts therapies into my coaching practice. 

My services are unique and effective because they are action-oriented. Sometimes it’s not enough to talk through things—we may feel stuck. Sometimes it’s too much to talk through things—we may feel overwhelmed. Sometimes we just need to act to get to where we want to go. When I am teaching skills, I will help you to put these skills to practice. It’s a bummer to learn something and not be able to integrate this in your life. I want you to learn the skills and then live them.

I help people feel empowered.

Moving through life as an “emotional person” was the first indicator that I would end up pursuing a career as a psychologist. Multiple cries a day were common in my daily life and seemed to result from nearly any emotion, whether it be joy, gratitude, surprise, fear, or sadness. I felt alone in my experience - a running internal monologue informed me that everyone around me had more self-control and that my inability to handle my emotions was a clear sign that something was seriously wrong with me. Riding a daily roller coaster of emotion was exhausting—exhilarating highs were quickly followed by stomach-dropping lows. In high school, I discovered that I could mediate these ups and downs through behaviors that worked in the short term, but cost me in the long term.

When I had reached the maximum amount of suffering I could tolerate, I began seeing a school counselor, and it CHANGED MY LIFE. My experience as a “client” ultimately led me to pursue a career in mental health. I learned how to live WITH big feelings, and I want to empower others to embrace their emotions and build the life they want to live. I love providing folks with the tools they need to build the life they want to live and witnessing them transform and live according to their values. The most rewarding thing about being a therapist is instilling hope when things feel hopeless and witnessing my clients using their skills and taking ACTION.

I am committed to empowering you to make the changes that will allow you to live a vital and purposeful life.

Why am I sharing this?

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I know a lot about what it takes to navigate big feelings, and the first step starts with understanding your sensitivity.