When I work with people I try to set my preconceived notions aside and meet them as they are. People will often tell us the “right” way to be, but I have come to lose faith in the idea that there is a “right” way. I don’t believe I can define you, and I don’t know who you will grow to be, but it is a great joy to be on this journey of discovery together. When it is helpful, I have the following bases of knowledge and experiential practice to draw on:

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Cognitive Therapy

It is amazing that almost our entire world is constructed by the thoughts and beliefs our mind generates. And this isn’t always clear until we really start to investigate. It can also be a bit alarming when we realize that we didn’t choose our thoughts and beliefs. They were, for the most part, unconsciously inherited from our family and society before we even knew what was happening. By looking directly at our pre-programmed patterns of thought, we can discover that what we thought was reality was actually just a story, and our world can open up, allowing us more freedom to express our authentic self.

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Somatic Therapy

I am experienced in a variety of somatic techniques including mindfulness, breath work, and simple movement to help regulate the nervous system, moving out of states of fight/flight/freeze and into rest and relaxation. This work can also support the body and mind in healing from trauma. By bringing awareness to states of dissociation and melting “freeze” in the body, the nervous system becomes more integrated. This makes us more able to access stores of energy and our full range of emotion that was cut off by the body’s response to traumatic experiences.
 

Relational Therapy

Some of the most difficult aspects of human life involve our relationships with others. In therapy, I do my best to relate with my clients from a place of authenticity, and respect for the whole of them. I can also help you become aware of the patterns and cycles present in your meaningful relationships. This reveals where you have the power to change relational patterns that cause you distress.
 

Jungian Psychology

Carl Jung saw the human mind as composed of a multitude of independent parts, rather than just a singular self. The parts of ourselves that are usually unconscious to us will sometimes show themselves in dreams and visions, or may temporarily take control of us in moments of emotional activation. If you have ever been “triggered” and acted in a way you didn’t understand, or perhaps that you later regretted, Jung would say you have experienced an unconscious force breaking through into your conscious awareness.

As long as these parts remain isolated from each other, one experiences states of inner conflict. By forming relationships with the unconscious parts of us, our whole being becomes more integrated and the many parts of us can work together, resulting in a sense of intimacy and wholeness within oneself.

Jung also noticed how the deeper levels of the human psyche contains aspects that are not isolated to the individual person, but shared with all people across space and time. Recognizing the deep “archetypal” forces that are at play in our lives can give our struggles a sense of meaning that goes beyond our individual story and connects us with all of humanity.
 

Buddhism

For me, Buddhism is a beautiful language for pointing toward the aspects of life that are the most difficult to talk about because they are beyond the mind. At its best, Buddhism points to the radical truth of this timeless moment, exactly as it is, right here and now. This Reality has always been here. Just look. Does it need any idea of it, to simply be what it is? Mysterious, still, and beyond any label or description? When we see this, it becomes hilarious to think we could ever understand life, and yet whatever it is already knows itself intimately.

Buddhism also gives us practical tools, like meditation and mindfulness, that can help us perceive the mind more clearly. When consciousness sees the mind clearly, it can see that our mind is already in the process of untangling itself and there is nothing more that needs to be done.