What's My Approach to Therapy?
Your mind and body are doing their job by responding to life the best they can in this moment. You do not need to be fixed, but you might benefit from a space with compassion to expand your capacity for healing in safe, genuine relationships. We often don’t choose our environments or our life experiences. However, consciously or unconsciously, they create impressions on our mind, body, and spirit, which in turn shape our beliefs, behaviors, and thought patterns—these sometimes look like mental health challenges. Nonetheless, you have agency in choosing to grow in ways that better align with you, while attenuating impressions that no longer serve your well-being.
I use an integrative approach, weaving aspects of the mind, body, and spirit through decolonial, liberation, and somatic-based practices. My background in cognitive psychology, social work, nutrition, mindfulness, and somatics supports creating a space that is holistic and responsive to each client's needs for deep healing. My range of specialties includes navigating trauma, oppression, chronic pain or illness, eating challenges, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive (OCD), and more. I also provide niche services for clinicians, couples, or individuals embodying decolonial practices, COVID-cautious affirming care, and relationship therapy for queer, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), or folks in interracial relationships.
My clients are not one in a sea of many, but are an important part of my community. I demonstrate this through providing deep care, active engagement, and investment in your well-being. If you feel ready to gain support, guidance, and refuge in your journey of growth, reach out for a free 15-minute consultation.
My Practice & Services
I offer workshops, coaching, and peer consultations. If you are a fellow therapist looking to consult on a specific topic of ways to embody Decolonial and Liberation practices in your work, please reach out!
My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy
You might be wondering if therapy is even worth the time, energy, and financial investment because so much of our stress can be related to larger life events. Whether that is our family, community, oppression, climate crisis and more. We are in fact in a time of a polycrisis. Psychotherapy will not directly change these larger issues. However, by support your healing, growth, creating new pathways to show up for yourself and the world, you might have more capacity to take action in your community. My holistic approach to therapy is meant to provide a space to build our social awareness and understanding while also addressing your individual needs. Together, your insight can be powerful in reshaping this world. We are dealing with a lot, so much so that one nervous system is not meant to bear it. However, there is a power in creating genuine, safe, connected relationships that open our ability for change down to our nervous system. You values, perspective, beliefs, and politics are all welcomed here.
My View on the Nature of 'Disorders'
If you are feeling self-conscious or overwhelmed with the idea you might have a mental health disorder, you are certainly not alone. We often approach mental health diagnoses as issues that exist within the individual that need to be fixed. However, have you ever thought about your anxiety, depression, eating disorder etc...might be an understandable and protective adaptation from your body? Furthermore, what we considered to be normal or disordered is highly culturally and politically based. Many diagnoses from the past were used as methods to gain control. Drapetomania a mental health "illness" designated to enslaved folks who fled for their lives in the 1800's. Pathologizing our innate responses to life events or stressors is not new. Rather than blaming individuals, let's focus on contextualizing our experience in our history, culture, politics, oppression, philosophies, and physiological response to gain deeper understanding and compassion. With awareness and compassion, we can build new pathways that better serve our values and living a meaningful life.
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.