A note on the specialties, and on diagnoses in general: I believe we are guided by what plagues us, though not defined by it. Ultimately, I am called to work with those who want to listen to their heart’s deepest voice, regardless of what this looks like on the surface.
Trauma Recovery
Traumatic events — when experienced without attuned support — can leave lasting and profound impacts on our hearts, bodies and psyches. When met with compassion, presence, safety, and love, many people find they can move forward and beyond the wounds of trauma in ways they had not imagined. My approach to healing from traumatic events relies greatly on the wisdom of the body and its somatic processes: allowing what may be “stuck” in a moment in time to be fully felt and resolved. And undoing the aloneness that can create the sense of being stuck in the shocking events.
Compulsive Behavior Recovery
Substances, food, shopping, sex, gambling, relationships, video games, social media…
Anything that interferes, i.e. protects/defends us from feeling fully present in our bodies just in this moment, right now and “dealing with life on life’s terms” (AA).
What is the compulsive behavior trying to tell us? What is the overarching need of the self? How do we listen without becoming overwhelmed. What occurs when true need is unmasked because then the need can finally be met. Pain and need often drive compulsive acting out. This is how, in my experience, we finally arrive at enduring change (and not just temporary behavior changes). We will work on this together.
Couples Therapy
It’s an old saying that through relationships, we learn more about ourselves than anywhere else. Coupledom is like an ongoing self-development workshop, and communication is often a sticking point. What is it that wants to be said? What wants to be heard and understood? These are simple enough questions, and yet it takes courage and patience to let their layers unfold. This is the territory of our sessions — and in a safe, guided container, we find our way through to an possibly-remarkable other side. I use the Gottman’s online couples’ assessment as part of couples therapy. The first sessions are with both members of the couple, then at least one session with each member individually. After these initial sessions a treatment plan will be collaboratively created.
Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand: depression can be so hard to navigate alone and can dramatically increase anxiety. What we can do is create a safe enough space to slow down and listen to the secret, still voice of depression. There is a way through it. Keeping in mind that you likely have already lived through what you fear, according to a wonderful psychologist, Whittaker who said something like, show me what you fear and I’ll tell you what you have already lived through. What we can do now, together, is get to the heart of what still unspoken and unheard.
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is a practice of sitting with a third presence in the room: what I call Holy and others might call spirit, source, divine, higher power, or G*d. In spiritual direction you have a committed listener, one who is there to explore questions with wonder and curiosity and to witness and support the directees journey of exploration and discernment of what is right for their authentic self.