My Approach to Helping
My clients often come to me when they're feeling stuck, a little helpless or hopeless, angryupset, frustrated, withdrawn, shut down, anxious or worried, or in a process of grief. Sometimes they've tried talk therapy before and it hasn't helped. I'm different: as a somatic coach & psychotherapist, I work to help you understand the "why behind the what," meaning, there are good reasons there is part of you that reacts in the way it does, even if those patterns don't make sense on the surface & may damage the relationships you care about. By using a combo of mindfulness, somatic regulation, Internal Family Systemsparts work, insight & Buddhist psychology, we will aim to create a relationally safe enough container to dip into exploring emotions without being overwhelmed, unpack the origins of some deep-seated self-concepts, & learn about how our brains & bodies work to help protect us, but can sometimes get stuck in old patterns. Then we can aim to introduce showing up in new ways.
More Info About My Practice
I have had my own personal journey with healing. I was in talk therapy for two decades. It didn't really move the needle on my healing. Sure, I unpacked some of the things about my childhood that influenced adult patterns that weren't working for me. But I didn't have any self-regulation or self-compassion tools to change from the inside-out because everything was cognitive. Somatic (body-based "bottom up") healing & mindfulness were game-changers. By being able to be aware of my thoughts without feeling merged w them, I began to slowly tolerate the sensations in my body that used to feel so overwhelming & move from unconscious, maladaptive reactions to grounded, appropriate responses that were rooted in better boundaries, more self-compassion, and greater relational capacity. As such, my professional and personal life began getting so much better, I was able to make big changes and move from surviving to thriving. It would be a privilege to support you on your journey.
My View on the Nature of 'Disorders'
I offer both coaching and psychotherapy. Psychotherapy requires me to give you a "diagnosis" of a "disorder" you have. I don't love this model, because I see just about everything we do as an adaptive responsive that was once necessary for our survival. Our work means we begin to explore the origins of that response, allow for a corrective experience in real time, and then make room for more currently adaptive ways of being that help us move from surviving to thriving. I've found the combination of mindfulness, somatic experiencing and internal family systems work, rooted in an anti-oppressive, systems-thinking-oriented, equity-based lens to be supportive to our work.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.
