I believe connection to ourselves and others is the foundation of our humanness. Through a myriad of life events (trauma, stress, shame, difficult relationships, living in oppression, as examples), we can stop living from a place of worth, authenticity, and connection. I believe therapy can be a supportive and safe relationship where we can move together into more understanding and compassion.
In our work together, we will create a place to be heard and witnessed, practice new ways of living in the world, and find authenticity and connection to self and others. I work with you to find safety, a reconnection to positive self-worth, and self-compassion. I use a body-based approach to therapy; we will focus on survival strategies, emotions, and beliefs, and will also begin to develop a sense of “home’ in our bodies. I believe our bodies are our most underutilized resource as we go through life, and it is my hope for you to be alive with this connection.
I hope to co-create therapy as a space for healing and growth; a place to uncover your strengths and passions, and to learn how to navigate through life in alignment with your values. I believe this can be done through feeling understood, co-creating trust and safety, and feeling empowered. I am very open to discussing power and privilege dynamics, and how both of our identities come into the space and impact our work. I take a candid approach to therapy, and it is important to me that you feel you are able to discuss what happens between us, and how you might want our work to be different. I work with you to determine how therapy can be most effective.
“The more radical the person is, the more fully he or she enters into reality so that, knowing it better, he or she can transform it. This individual is not afraid to confront, to listen, to see the world unveiled. This person is not afraid to meet the people or to enter into a dialogue with them. This person does not consider himself or herself the proprietor of history or of all people, or the liberator of the oppressed; but he or she does commit himself or herself, within history, to fight at their side.”
– Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
