Ava Benezra, M.A., Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

Suffering rarely comes out of nowhere. More often, it grows from the gap between what we long for and the realities of our lives, between the person we feel ourselves to be and how we’re able to show up in the world. If you’re feeling anxious, depressed, lonely, or stuck, it’s not a personal failure — and it’s likely not something that can be solved through willpower alone. Rather, it’s by respecting the wisdom in our suffering that we come to experience less of it. As a Jungian-oriented therapist, my practice is premised on the belief that emotional distress isn’t just a problem to eliminate; it’s a signal pointing toward parts of ourselves that need care, understanding, and integration. When we learn to listen to what these experiences are communicating, real and lasting change becomes possible. Our task will be to cultivate a space where you can hear that wisdom and, over time, learn to embody it. My approach is warm, direct, playful, and trauma-informed. As a student of Zen Buddhism for almost a decade, I’ll often bring in mindfulness-based, somatic interventions into our session. Clients find that, through this work, experiences and emotions which previously felt unbearable can become the bedrock of their most vital inner resources and the foundation on which they build more meaningful, truer lives. Please reach out to get started.