Get the One-on-One Therapy Sessions You Need
“The last place we tend to look for healing is within ourselves.”
~ Wayne Muller
Individual Psychotherapy
We all experience difficult and stressful passages in our lives, but too often we do it alone and the passages feel unbearably long. If you are struggling with worry, self-doubt, or a general sense of discouragement or emptiness, there is hope.
My 30+ years as a licensed therapist have taught me that deep within our brains and bodies lie innate, wired-in instincts toward healing and self-righting. Our work together will help you access these instincts so that you can experience your aliveness and freedom to be yourself.
That's no way to live. If you are struggling with any of the following conditions, I would be happy to meet with you:
You don't have to do it alone. You can change the way you feel about your life and yourself.
"You do not become good by trying to become good, but by finding the goodness that is already in you and allowing that goodness to emerge."
~ Eckhart Tolle
Are you struggling with self-criticism or injured self-esteem and self-confidence?
Is it sometimes difficult to stop the self-attacks that ambush your goals and undermine your sense of inherent goodness? Perhaps you find that you:
When we are overly distracted by what "isn't right" about ourselves, it is hard to bounce back after something bad has happened. We can become walled-off and numb, behaving in ways that take us further away from what we really want, leading us toward pain in our relationships, work experiences, financial security and causing us to feel anxious and alone.
If your beliefs about yourself are depriving you of the joy, aliveness, and purpose that you would like to experience in your life, I would like to help you. Together, we can work to change the beliefs and behaviors that hold you back from your freedom
"The human spirit can handle much more than we realize."
~ Diana Foscha, Author
Is depression stealing your aliveness?
Depression can debilitate our mind and body; it can disrupt our appetite, sleeping patterns, vitality, mental attitude, relationships, productivity, clarity, and self-esteem. Depression is a lonely condition, causing us to isolate ourselves and become hypercritical of our apparent inability to get on top of things.
If you relate to this, you are not alone! Almost 10% of us in the United States experience some form of depression in our lives.
How does therapy help?
When you participate in therapy, you are no longer alone with your depression. This fact alone brings a huge amount of relief to many people at the very beginning of our journey together. Here are some of the ways our work together will help you feel better and find yourself again:
My aim is your discovery of the resources within you to heal, grow, create, engage, and interact.
"Our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive."
~ Don Miguel Ruiz
Anxiety is a normal and healthy emotion. It keeps us productive, motivated, and enables us to keep ourselves and loved ones out of harm’s way. We all experience waves of anxiety from time to time. Changes and uncertainty in our relationships, finances, or health can cause us to worry and stress.
However, when worry and stress become overwhelming, anxiety can take over and hold us hostage. It's as though our nervous system gets hijacked and anxiety invades every moment of the day. Over time, our self-confidence, productivity, and efficacy can suffer, increasing worry and rumination.
Sleep may become compromised, impacting our physical, mental, and emotional functioning, leading to more stress and worry which feeds the anxiety. What a vicious cycle. When we self-medicate with drugs and alcohol as a coping strategy, we set up the intensity of the cycle.
The good news is that you don't have to be controlled by anxiety. You can step off the crazy train and stay home from all the past and future time travel where anxiety festers.
Our work together will help you:
"There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."
~ George Sand
Are you having difficulty dealing with relationship issues?
How is your relationship life? I'm asking about your connections with friends, family, romantic partners, and spouses...or the lack thereof.
To fully love and be loved are two of the deepest yearnings we have. So why are they so difficult to satisfy? Why doesn't love always flow back and forth easily and naturally? The short answer is that we are wired to avoid pain or adapt to painful situations in the most self-protective way possible. The good news is that we are also wired to connect. Sometimes, our most valued relationships get caught in the crossfire of these two fundamental instincts.
Here are some examples of being caught in the crossfire. Can you relate to any of them?
If you want to build on your capacity to create good relationships in your life, I would love to speak to you. Let's talk and see if I can help.
"Your grief for what you've lost lifts a mirror up to where you're bravely working."
~ Rumi
When we experience trauma, something happens to us that shocks and hurts us so profoundly that we are either unable to cope, or we adopt coping strategies that hurt more than help. Trauma is created through the experience of accidents, violence (experienced or witnessed), domination, abuse, isolation, death or loss of loved ones, or natural disasters. It can result from a one-time event or repeating events.
Traumatic events can damage psychological development in children and mental/psychological functioning in adults. Trauma not only evokes debilitating fear, but also grief, rage, and hopelessness. The trauma may have informed your behavior and beliefs about yourself, others, and the world in detrimental ways.
In therapy, my job is to help you work through or around these defenses, gently, compassionately, and tenaciously so that you can know and express yourself undistorted by limiting defenses. Together we can tend to the fear, undo aloneness, and allow your grief to unfold.