Olivia Smith, Licensed Associate Professional Counselor

Some days, you feel like you've been lugging around a backpack full of rocks, filled with shame, guilt, and fear. You may be carrying thoughts, patterns, and emotions your mind learned to hold onto, even though they are no longer helping you. You find yourself longing for connection, wondering how things became this heavy, this overwhelming. At times, it can feel like you are holding weight that was never yours to carry in the first place. It has been a lifelong passion of mine to pursue a career as a therapist and help you find ways to feel more connected to others, and to put down that backpack. I come to the field with strong interests in holistic care, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), attachment theory, and polyvagal theory, as well as a background in pediatric research and child welfare. I believe the therapeutic relationship is collaborative, empowering, and healing in and of itself. While you are the expert in your own life, and you have more strengths and skills than you know, you don't have to do it alone.