Christopher Giffen, MA; MHCA

I trust in the inner wisdom to which each of us has access, an indwelling power that will lead us to healing and deep aliveness. Sometimes our wounds, our relationships, or our stuck stories keep us from allowing the free movement of our own life force. I find that sense engagement, emotional reconnection, and mindful expression are pathways that lead to our fullest potential. Using trauma-informed, body-connected, and relational approaches to psychotherapy, I will build an honest and open therapistclient relationship with you, while holding our process in a clinically responsible way.

My practice is just as much about process as it is content; I work with breath, gesture, and sensation, in the here-and-now, in addition to the stories, memories, and insights you bring with you to therapy. I have particular training that helps me ground the therapy process in the body-mind connection, and I have a passion to work with people's voices- some of my clients sing and improvise with me in therapy...

I work with some clients who have felt pathologized, patronized, judged, or dissected by a past therapist. In my view, you know the most about you, and my training equips me to listen more deeply and share what I see and hear. Mutual vulnerability holds deep transformative power. Although therapy is different than friendship, as I bring professional skills and techniques, who I am and my own experiences and life learnings are part of our process- I'm not a blank wall or a neutral observer.