Specializing in depression, anxiety, disordered eating and relational challenges.
Depression
"To be truly radical is to make hope possible rather than despair convincing." – Raymond Williams
Depression can take many forms for people, like an unwieldy shapeshifter looking to ruin your day. I have heard clients describe it as a deep sense of heaviness, feeling low, being stuck in concrete, being lost at the bottom of a deep hole or as if they are in a bubble, knowing they are a part of a situation but somehow very separate. It is an unfortunately familiar state for many. We all experience sadness, hopelessness or question our self worth for brief periods of time, as it is the nature of being human to feel the broad spectrum of emotions, including the negative ones. However, a depressive disorder entails having these negative emotions, along with negative self beliefs, for longer periods of time. A persistent low mood, isolating oneself, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, sleep challenges, difficulty focusing or decision making, fatigue, feelings of guilt or worthlessness and even thoughts of harming oneself are all indicative of depression. Depression can be situational or persistent, come in episodes or present as a mild, longterm, unwanted companion. Therapy can provide a light to carry with you as you journey through the dark tunnel of depression. Through challenging negative self schemas, learning skills to hold emotions non-judgmentally and building the strength to re-engage in your life, therapy can help you find your way back to yourself, out of the dark cocoon and into flight.
Anxiety
"Sometimes your only means of transportation is a leap of faith." – Margaret Shepard
Anxiety is a natural human state that is designed to help us identify risky situations and keep us alive. We often feel appropriately anxious in situations where we want to perform well, have people like us and are in new or unfamiliar situations. We may experience worries or fears around health, school, money, work or family. While all of us experience these worries occasionally, anxiety disorders cause us to feel anxious, worried, afraid, irritable, tense and restless more often than not in some or most situations. A racing heart and mind caused by an anxiety disorder can also lead to difficulty concentrating, sleep challenges, muscle tension and fatigue. Luckily, therapy is a way to alleviate situational anxieties or an anxiety disorder through interventions such as mindfulness practices, cognitive behavioral strategies and exposure techniques.
Relationships
"Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously." – Prentis Hemphill
As human beings, we are by definition social animals who thrive on connection. Parents, siblings, extended family members, friends, partners, spouses, coworkers, teammates, colleagues and acquaintances all impact our day to day lives. The quality of our relationships also helps create our sense of self as we navigate our individual communities. Early childhood experiences, attachment styles, learned patterns of behavior, positive or negative social experiences, modeled expressions of emotion, trauma, life circumstances, etc. all influence how we connect in relationships. The difficulties we all have in relationships are as inevitable as the need we have for them. Some difficulties are harder to overcome than others: abuse, neglect, rejection, boundary breaking, opposing belief systems, infidelity, broken trust, among others. We can learn more effective relational strategies no matter how old we are, how many relationships we have, the nature of the relationships or how "good" or "bad" at relationships we think we are. Therapy is a deeply relational practice, where healing occurs not only in learning new ways of connecting with others, but also with allowing yourself to be truly seen and heard by someone who's only job is to be compassionately present with you.
Disordered eating & Body Image Distress
"Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself." – Coco Chanel
While disordered eating and body image distress can certainly occur independently of one another, they are also linked in many ways and this is why I have paired them here. Food is a basic human need. We know this, yet we can easily find ourselves using food in unhealthy ways. These unhealthy ways of eating can be rooted in trauma, negative emotions, feelings of unworthiness and self punishment. Disordered eating can take different forms including restriction, binge eating and compensatory behaviors like purging and overexercising. Some disordered ways of eating are ingrained in our culture as diet and wellness trends, workout methods and beauty ideals. Imbedded in these societal messages is the imperative to change our bodies in order to increase our worth. Our body image encompasses how we think we look, how we feel about how we look and how we physically feel living in our bodies. Messaging from social media, shows, movies, friends and family all impact how we see ourselves and how we feel about it. It is often not great. We can, however, find our way back to tolerating, accepting and eventually even loving ourselves and our bodies through self compassion, embodiment work and reconditioning our perspective on beauty and diet culture.
Trauma
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.” – Fred Rogers
Trauma takes many forms. We can experience trauma in extreme ways through life threatening situations like military combat, being assaulted, growing up in violent circumstances, domestic violence, transportation accidents and natural disasters. We can also be traumatized by relationships, life circumstances, illness, and experiencing loved ones going through extreme difficulty. Suffering is ubiquitous to human existence and healing is possible through finding ways to move beyond what has happened to us. We can cope with our stories by telling them, learn to access our strength by tolerating difficult emotions, manage our frightening thoughts by redirecting them, and learn to feel safe again.
Couples Therapy
"Love is the whole thing. We are only pieces." ― Rumi
I believe in the universal truth that relationships of any kind take work. This is especially true for couples in whatever type of partnership they co-create. We like to see romance in stereotypes with romcom humor and happy endings. Real relationships are as complex as the individuals in them and the needs, desires and hopes of each individual change and evolve over time. The most fulfilling relationships are ones that support individual and relationship growth, allowing for support, open communication and emotional safety as they move towards common values. Different communication styles, attachment needs, values, beliefs, childhood experiences, cultures and desires can create friction. Therapy can help couples find their common language and values, learn to argue more healthily and remember what brought them together in the first place.