It starts with a dream.

It starts with a dream. My dream is to help heal people so that our community can heal as a whole. We can't do it alone. I have worked 10 years predominantly working one on one with clients and my passion has always been working with trauma. As I've grown as a clinician and a caring human being, living through a pandemic that has highlighted the divide amongst our country and put people against people and left many people isolated, afraid, and alone, I feel now more than ever that we need to build community in order to heal.

My learning journey through Neuropsychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Polyvagal Theory and Somatic Experiencing (trauma healing through body work) has brought me to learn through science something that I have always known on a personal level, that we all share energy in this world and that traumatized bodies spread that trauma energy into the world by no intention by the person. I think of it this way; I can work one on one with a client, and they can come into my office and feel safe and calm. If they go back home and there is chaos in the home or their world, they will no longer feel that calm and safe. The only way we can heal is together. It is for this reason that I've decided I'm going to be doing a series of varying groups. 

What is the number one cause of trauma?

Silence and secrets

No client has ever come into my office holding no secrets with shame attached.  It is that shame that holds back healing.  We have been taught as a culture from past generations who needed silence to survive but silence only carries wounds from generation to generation.  Is this the legacy you want to pass down and leave with your children and future generations?  Think of a secret you hold inside, where do you feel this secret in your body, how does it make you feel?  What would change if you dared to speak it out loud? What weight would be lifted?  How heavy is this weight, was it always that heavy?  When did you start carrying this weight?  Who put this weight on you?  In therapy, we can help you put this weight down.

As the field of psychology and pressure from insurance companies continue to pile up and create a “quick fix” style of get rid of symptoms in only 10 sessions, there is a loss I feel on the focus of healing the soul.  It is a band aid placed on a bleeding heart. I do not deny or discount these shorter-term styles of therapy, they are very effective and important in reducing symptoms and distress.  However, my style is a deeper one more resonant of narrative therapy.

What is narrative therapy?

Before technology wisdom and understanding was passed down through stories.  Stories of truth, stories of myth, stories with meaning and messages to learn.  As our focus in this world become shorter to needing a 10 second Tik Toc to keep our attention because a 5-minute youtube is too long, the narratives we have for our lives are incredibly thin.  The problem with thin narratives is they get played on repeat over and over again but get us nowhere.  Without detail and a thick narrative, we lack deeper understanding and awareness as well as ability to change.  If I have a stomachache, I can take Pepto and feel better, but I would want to know why I was feeling that way in the first place!  The definition of “insane” is doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation that “this time it will be different” but no change is made and instead there is frustration for the same result occurring again.  How have those tools been working for you in managing those hard feelings all alone?  If you’re reading this, probably not so great. 

So, let’s learn from the fox and become vulnerable so deep healing can be made.