My Approach to Helping
I help clients heal from traumatic experiences working from an attachment lens focusing on developmental and relational trauma. I primarily work with pregnant and postpartum persons, and I particularly love working with new parents who find that parenthood triggers their own unhealed childhood wounds and those who have decided to break free from generational cycles of trauma. If you decided to work with me, I work hard to create an accountable space for you to share your inner world with me. I provide collaborative, insight-oriented therapy using somatic-based interventions to promote healing.
My personal philosophy about life and mental health struggles is that we all suffer, or that suffering is a shared human experience, and being present through the moments of suffering reduces the suffering. Essentially, life sucks sometimes, but there is also a sweetness to life, even in moments of deep suffering, if we can learn to accept that this moment, right here, is only temporary. We all have the ability to end our own suffering, heal ourselves, and thrive in life. But sometimes we need some help in the midst of suffering to get through, and my hope is to be someone you can trust to help you through it. As someone who has sat on both sides of the therapy chair, I understand the importance of feeling safe in a space to share your inner world and I strive to create a trusting, safe space for you to explore and grow.
My View on the Nature of 'Disorders'
Short answer: typical human responses to typical and atypical events have been pathologized by old, white men.
Society is too quick to pathologize normal human behavior. Of course you have felt depressed "since you can remember" when you grew up in an environment where you did not feel valued and your needs and wants went unmet. Does it mean you have depression? Sure, technically you might meet criteria for a depressive disorder diagnosis. But is therapy focused only on treating depression symptoms really going to treat the underlying causes of the depression? Probably not. Focusing only on the symptoms of a diagnosis is often just a "band aid" that continues the shame narrative on the individual (e.g. "You aren't well because you cannot cope well enough,"). We need to address the systems the individual lives within and place that shame and accountability on the system, not the individual. Don't get me wrong here, there should be accountability on individuals for their behaviors, but they are not responsible for having developed their symptoms on their own. People are not struggling simply because they aren't coping well enough; they are struggling because their capacity for coping with stress is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the stressful events taking place in their lives. We all exist within systems (e.g. society) that either support or suppress mental wellness.
Placing a diagnosis or label on someone can be really damaging, especially when mental wellness is being impaired by toxic systems.
