Being human is not easy.

Sometimes it is agonizing, other times it’s amazing, but it’s usually baffling, especially if you’re one who thinks & feels a lot.

Ultimately, we are bags of meat packed around bones with a consciousness that moves us through a world on a spherical rock floating through space.

And it is hard to be a meatbag with consciousness. No one teaches us how to live with a complex and sometimes screeching psyche. The most complicated organic structure that we know of doesn't come with any psychological instruction manual, we just have to grow into it somehow and figure it out as we go along. It's not the most efficient system if you think about it for more than a second. And even if you had an ideal childhood, over the years you bump into other bags of meat and bones and they scuff you, leave you bruised and dented. An accumulation of scar tissue on your psyche builds up like arterial plaque just from living your life. This “scar tissue” can continue to cause all kinds of emotional and psychological pain, even long after the injuries have occurred.

Now aside from all the reasons we had already, we've created entirely new categories of things to give us not just internal or interpersonal issues, but wholly modern systemic and existential dread. Climate change & other global crises/events, the cumulative & chronic stress of existence in a supremacist society, social media pitfalls & relational injury in the virtual world, a pandemic of loneliness and cumulative loss. It adds up to a cascade of external factors that may seem like they're working just as hard against us and our mental health as our own histories and traumas. Trauma has moved out of ourselves more than ever, and a lot of us need help navigating it systemically and socially as much as internally or interpersonally.

This is where therapy can help

I believe that everyone can benefit from it because everyone has some degree of “scar tissue” and I like to say that if our psyche was as publicly visible as our teeth, more people would come to the process of therapeutic work, and there would be less stigma or shame about admitting we need help.  My approach to therapy reflects my belief that our mind and psyche can be metaphorically seen as many-layered:  the conscious/thinking cognitive mind as the “top” layer, then beneath this are other layers with different degrees of consciousness/awareness, all the way down to the core, or deepest layer that's usually not in our thinking-mind awareness. 

Therapy, at its best, can not only question the cognitive belief layer to get to new ways of thinking, but also bring the deeper layers of our core up closer to the surface of consciousness, which can lead to more choices, more compassion for self and others, and less symptoms (like diffuse anxiety).  How “deep” you choose to go is up to you... and at the very least, my style of counseling can teach you consistent inquiry skills that will help you challenge the cognitive level of thought that can cause much anguish and symptoms. Ultimately the goal of our work will be measurable change in patterns of thought & feeling that will improve the overall quality of your life. Along the way we'll check in on whether we're moving in that direction and if not, reassess the path in getting there.

A RELATIONAL APPROACH

It is very important that the process remain collaborative and that you share with me clearly what you want to work on, and/or if aspects of my style or approach is not working for you. Sometimes during the course of treatment, a relational or clinical impasse can occur, and in order to work through these, it’s necessary for us to directly address any aspects involved. Therapy works best when it’s collaborative: when the client feels safe & respected enough to have an equal voice in the work and to raise issues or concerns as they arise. Along the way, I will have impressions or clinical opinions about where we might focus, but ultimately, it is much more effective when clients take responsibility for their own therapeutic agency & direction. 

You are the only expert on your own life, but I can help you figure out how to find more strength and clarity to work through whatever obstructions or blindspots that contribute to current challenges. And in particular, I have expertise and experience in assessing, treating, and working with the following issues:

• mood, depression, and grief work

• anxiety, panic attacks and phobias

• PTSD and trauma work

• relationship problems & conflict resolution

• medical and health concerns, illness & aging

• identity development and integration

  * marginalized within culture: sexuality, gender identity, race, religion, ability, class, etc.

• repetition of patterns that are harmful or maladaptive: family/childhood legacies

• social challenges: isolation, loneliness, shame/avoidance

• existential issues — hopelessness, dread, related to external problems and/or internal (psychospiritual) doubts, confusion, fears.