As a trauma-trained therapist, I guide my clients through the difficult realities of their pasts so they can enjoy the relationship with themselves.
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery
You're no victim, and you're ready to take responsibility for creating the abuse-free life you want to live because
without insight into the factors that influenced your choices in a mate, you are likely to repeat the cycle and choose the same person again and again. The abuse was not your fault, and you did not deserve it; at the same time, there are experiences in your past that make you more susceptible to abuse. In therapy, we will work together to heal from those experiences, and to create a healthy sense of self to improve your self-awareness and self-esteem. When you have a strong and healthy relationship with yourself you can experience an enjoyable life with satisfying relationships. I will work with you to love and trust yourself as you pursue the life you want to live.
Trauma (Childhood & Sexual)
Trauma is the disconnection of you from yourself. You know that life will continue to present you with challenges, and you want to heal so you don't break. You have experienced various forms of neglect, abuse (witnessed or experienced), exposure to mental health challenges, or exposure to other stressors during the formative years of your life (childhood); and all you wanted to do was survive. Now you want to get back to your true self so you can live. My approach to trauma is to create the safety necessary to explore it and to walk with you through it to discover who you truly are, independent of those experiences. It is through this exploration that you can recover the parts of you that still exist and incorporate them into your daily life.
Anxiety
You find yourself constantly planning for things that haven't happened. You're often stuck in fantasies or in catastrophizing that you can't enjoy the moment. Because you have existed in this anxious state since childhood you believe it's apart of who you are. In relationships, anxiety can manifest as self-isolation or over-performance. Examples of over-performance are overthinking, over-explaining, people pleasing, etc. Eventually you find yourself fed up with existing in this state. Together, we will work on identifying how anxiety manifests in your body and heal anxious triggers with the goal of becoming more intentional about how you show up for yourself in relationships.
Young Adult Transitions
You're in the stage of life where you're ready to step into your independence yet you feel stuck. It's hard to navigate the expectations of your parents while trying to just do you. Plus, there's social pressures and it's hard to know what's the best choice for you. Young adulthood is a pivotal time in our lives; it is during this phase of life that many people make decisions that will have a lifelong impact, including career and relationship choices. The challenge is you have limited experiences and the messages from your childhood conflict with where you want to go. Therapy will help you to explore the potential conflicts between family upbringing, social influences, and your individual preferences, to achieve clarity of authenticity.
Sex & Sex Related Issues
Good sex is a right, not a privilege; and while sex can be one of life’s greatest pleasures, it can also be a huge disappointment or maybe fall somewhere in between. There's a barrier between you and good sex and you don't know where to begin. Sex therapy is a place where you can explore your beliefs, experiences, and approach to sex to overcome the challenges you are facing. Like our speech and appearance, sex is a form of self-expression; sex therapy provides you with the opportunity to explore and change how you do it.
Couples
A good relationship is peace, and your peace has been distrubed. You want more for the relationship and you keep running into the same roadblocks. That's so frustrating! One of the greatest challenges and rewards in relationships comes when you can be vulnerable with one another. Each of you have built up walls of protection around your pain which allows you to only go so deep. You want someone in those deep places with you, it's too frightening to ask. Instead, you react and resist in ways that cause confusion and distress. You each want to be seen, heard, & understood. In couples therapy, we will explore your individual pains so that you become clear about what it is you really want so you can grow comfortable with exchanging vulnerability and empathy.
Let's Talk
The first step in getting to the other side is making a connection. Let's find a time to discuss where you desire to be.
