My Approach and Theoretical Framework to Counseling
I strive for a collaborative approach to counseling with a framework constructed from humanism, existentialism, and attachment theory. I help clients to increase meaning by honoring their lived experience, identifying and honing their strengths, and moving towards resonance in their life.
I use behavioral and somatic interventions to help decrease suffering in the present or help better attune to self. A narrative approach helps to increase attention to the present moment, reframe stories, and to experience increased freedom through humor and creativity
I believe we have an innate capacity to grow.
Therapy for Connecting to Self and Healing in Relationship
If your struggles include things like perfectionism, making decisions, completing tasks, moving easily through transitions, people pleasing, or a general lack of security as you move through the world, I’m glad you have found me.
Do you seek a greater sense of self compassion and self acceptance? Do you hope to uncover your true desires and create a stable framework for your life? Are you looking to gain a greater understanding of your identity and how you function in the world? Do you wish to identify the people and ideas that light you up as well as those things that can make you feel small?
I strive for a collaborative approach to counseling and help you increase intuition, creativity, and meaning by honoring your lived experiences. We explore the ways your family and community shaped you and how those experiences show up in your life today.
We work together to combine inner exploration with practical interventions, identify strengths, and help you increase self compassion and move toward a greater resonance with your own life.
By connecting with yourself and honoring your lived experiences, we find new ways for you to connect with the people that feel most resonant.
When we do this work, it sends a signal to your body that says, “I care about you,” and we begin to experience freedom within ourselves, and in our daily movements.
Engaging in personal work is always about more than just you. When you make the choice to recover yourself, the work ripples out and the people in your life and community often benefit alongside you.
My goal is to help you feel more connected to your sense of yourself by recovering your strengths, passions, creative urges, and sense of purpose, meaning, and hope.
Personal History and
Dominant Narratives
Dominant narratives in our families and in the greater collective impact the way we choose to live our lives even when those stories do not resonate with our lived experience. Our past experiences can inform the way we show up in the present moment and can cause us to feel conflict in current relationships, struggle to communicate emotions effectively, trust that others will be able to meet our needs, or cause us to utilize coping mechanisms that hinder us rather than help us.
Grief and Loss
Grief, often connected to early attachment wounds and the aftermath of living through traumatic events, is an inevitable part of life that is can remain unacknowledged or unaddressed. We can walk through the world with feelings of grief and loss that leave us fragmented and this can be invisible to those closest to us, leaving little space for the human experience of the non-linear process of recovery. We may not always be conscious of why we suffer, but there is often a deeper thread to the experience.
The Inherent Irony in Being Human
When emotions are not tended to, they remain in the body and cause suffering. When aspects of our lives feel out of balance, anxiety and depression symptoms can show up as indicators. We regain balance in our lives by listening to our inner knowledge and discovering ways to tend to ourselves. We can feel alone while also striving for connection. We can experience the freedom to choose what we want for our lives while also being responsible for our choices. We can experience meaninglessness while seeking meaning.
Understanding Recovery
During my clinical internship I worked at an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment center for women in the process of recovery and tending to the disease of addiction. This experience helps me understand how recovery operates, how it relates to many facets of our lives whether we are living in sobriety or recovering from trauma, challenging relationships, loss and grief, or an insecure attachment stemming from our childhood. Our lives are understood through the lens of a story we have constructed.
A Contextualized Approach
I utilize a contextualist approach by helping people to create and increase meaning in their lives. I believe therapy must meet people within the context of their sociocultural environments. Our work in this life is not only personal but collective and I am committed to remaining engaged in our democracy in an active capacity. I volunteer for several activist organizations and encourage people to vote on the human rights issues that impact our everyday lives.
