Therapist. Truth-Teller. Pattern-Spotter.

Hi, I'm Essence.

Helping people understand not just what they're doing, but why they keep doing it.

I believe therapy should feel like one of the few places in your life where you don't have to perform. You don't have to have the right words. You don't have to have everything figured out. And you definitely don't have to be the strong one here.

A woman with long black hair, wearing makeup, a septum, and lip piercing, smiling while dressed in a black and white patterned shirt.

How I show up:

warm, down-to-earth, direct, collaborative, and honest. I won't judge you. I won't pretend life is simple. And I won't sit silently while you spend six months talking yourself out of your own needs.

We'll explore patterns. We'll ask hard questions. We'll challenge old narratives. We'll laugh. A lot. Might cry too. We'll probably call out some self-sabotage along the way.

Because self-awareness is powerful.

But self-awareness without action doesn't change much.


As a Black woman, therapist, entrepreneur, wife, and someone who has spent much of her life caring for others, I understand what it feels like to carry multiple roles while still trying to make space for yourself.

I understand the pressure to keep going. To hold it together. To be dependable. To make things happen. To be strong.

Many of my clients, particularly Black women, come to therapy exhausted from carrying expectations that were never meant to be carried alone.

Therapy becomes the place where they finally get to put some of that weight down.

A collage of four images featuring women with natural hairstyles in warm, intimate settings. The top left shows two men sitting in front of a mirror, the top right shows a woman with an afro looking at a man, the bottom left features a woman reading a book at a dinner table, and the bottom right is a silhouette of a woman with an afro against an abstract background.

What therapy is like with me.

People often tell me I'm warm, direct, insightful, and easy to talk to. I believe meaningful growth happens when compassion and accountability exist in the same room. I'm not interested in judging you. I'm interested in helping you understand yourself.

The goal isn't to stay on the surface.

A Few Things I Believe

✳︎

A Few Things I Believe ✳︎

A man with a beard and glasses sits at a wooden table in a dimly lit room, leaning back with his eyes closed, holding a piece of paper against his chest. There is an oil lamp on the table casting a warm glow and smoke rises from it.

Boundaries are not selfish.

Rest is productive.

Being strong and needing support can coexist.

You don't have to earn rest.

Healing doesn't require perfection.

Your worth is not measured by your productivity.

You deserve relationships that feel reciprocal.

My hope is that therapy becomes the one hour in your week that belongs entirely to you.