My approach
Embodiment
My work with clients centers around feeling for the innate wisdom and healing potential of the body. By bringing more awareness to sensation, I help clients notice their embodied patterns. Examples of these patterns might be shutting down in moments of conflict, or distracting with screen time when you have important things to do. All behavior is an attempt to meet a need and these behaviors were once helpful coping strategies that may no longer be useful or choiceful. These strategies don’t just exist in our thoughts or behaviors, but are patterned into our nervous systems and our entire beings. By slowing down and noticing what is happening in body when these patterns arise, we can better understand how they are functioning and what they are taking care of for us. When we understand that, new possibilities to meet our needs are able to emerge. I will support you in practicing new ways to meet your needs that are based on who you are now and what matters to you.
Unpacking social context
While our embodiment is deeply personal and individual, it also develops in relationship to our social context: the environment we live in. This includes everything from family, institutions, culture, class, and beyond. Many of us have received messages, directly and indirectly, that there is something wrong with us, or that we don’t matter. These messages could be explicit messages from caregivers, peers, or teachers. They can be more subtle, like not seeing people who look like you in the media or positions of power. They can also come from systems, like living in a polluted environment, or not having your learning style adequately supported at school. As our bodies take on patterns to adapt to the world that we live in, we come to embody our social context. By noticing the shaping of body’s experience in relationship to social context, I will support you in building a more respectful relationship with self, and making more space for your authenticity to come forward.
Healing toward the life you want to live
A lot of times people go to therapy focused on what is not working. This makes sense, as we often reach for support because we are in pain. However, being focused on “the problem” can sometimes reinforce and further entrench that problem. To avoid this trap, in our work together we will center what you want and what you care about, and spend time noticing what is already working so you can expand and build from there. I will also help you find and tap into more forms of resource and resilience. Examples of resources include supportive relationships with loved ones, activities that bring you joy like art and movement, cultivating more connection with ancestors or cultural practices, and so much more. We will know they are working because you will feel the difference they make on the level of the body. When you are practiced at connecting with what resources you, you can bounce back from tough challenges. With a felt sense of what matters to you, the support you can access, and what you are already doing well, healing doesn’t always have to be a struggle. There will be lots to celebrate in our work together. As therapy progresses, you will have more capacity to connect with your desire, feel for what’s possible, notice the choices available, and take more action towards what matters to you. Whether you know exactly what that is or are still figuring that out, I will meet you where you’re at and support your capacity to trust yourself and move towards new possibilities.