It has been wisely said that we are wounded in relationship *and* we heal in relationship. My approach to counseling aligns with Dr. Irvin Yalom’s idea of being a “fellow traveler” with clients. I have experienced in my own story how the therapeutic relationship is foundational for personal growth and an increased capacity for connection and aliveness. This relationship is an invitation to safely engage our internal experience and connect with what we most need or want for ourselves.

Through my own work of personal growth and healing, I am continually learning to embrace (rather than deny) my humanity and who I was created to be. I can show up authentically with myself and others knowing that our shared human experience reflects the complexity of life and relationships in this temporal world — suffering and delight… grief and hope… shame and freedom… connection and disconnection.

When we have had to learn to adapt by avoiding or bypassing the painful and traumatic experiences in our lives, we often end up feeling a host of different ways: disconnected, stuck, overwhelmed, exhausted, anxious, ashamed, depressed, lonely… and beyond. My approach to therapy offers a process led by kindness and curious exploration, supporting clients to identify the core dilemmas and genuine longings that are under the patterns we develop out of our original woundings.

I love this quote by writer & illustrator Emily McDowell, because it captures what I believe this in-depth process of therapy feels like:

“‘Finding yourself’ is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten-dollar bill in last winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. ‘Finding yourself’ is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.”

I do not take it lightly that clients trust me to provide a safe and attuned environment of collaboration in this process of engaging their own humanity in a new way. It is a genuine privilege for me to help others navigate their own stories and life experiences with dignity and compassion. Based on my own recovery process, I believe we truly can develop personal ways to care for our mind, body, and spirit by safely connecting to the most authentic parts of ourselves.