Therapy
My commitment is to compassionately witness and support you on your journey toward more understanding, self love, and personal and collective growth.
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I offer individual therapy for people wishing to better understand themselves, be authentic in their relationships and integrate more joy and connection into their daily lives.
"the becoming wing"
be easy
take your time
you are coming home
to yourself
~Nayyirah Waheed
My orientation is somatic, relational and Internal Family Systems (IFS) informed.
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Somatic, meaning “of the body,” involves awareness and engagement with the felt sense of being in one’s self physically. The modern world often takes us away from our bodies and requires us to live in our heads, disconnected from our more subtle wisdom and the inner knowing we all possess. Through experiential interventions, education about the nervous system, and cultivation of deeper presence in one’s body, I will support you to embody your growth in a grounded and sustaining way.
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I believe that everything in life comes back to relationship
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In our work together, you will probably not experience me as aloof or distant in the way some therapists may be perceived. I strive to bring my whole self to our container, with authenticity, warmth and compassion.
We may explore how past experiences with family and loved ones have shaped you and your patterns of relating to self and others. These strategies, beliefs and behaviors may show up in your present relationships, including in the therapy room. I am here to accompany you in exploring that dynamic and embodying new/different ways of being in relationship.
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a non-pathologizing, evidence-based form of therapy based on seeing the self as a system of parts and relationships. IFS regards the Self as these qualities (known as the 8 Cs) that are inherent to all of us: curiosity, compassion, courage, creativity, calm, clarity, confidence and connectedness.
Parts emerge as a brilliant response to avoid the pain and fear we cannot help but experience during the course of our life. Although the jobs that these parts take on do help distance us from pain and fear for a time, parts offer more momentary fixes that obscure the 8 Cs and often keep us in a cycle of coping, rather than healing.
Through embracing the multiplicity of our experience and the function of different parts in the system, even (especially!) the most extreme of parts, we can help ourselves unburden from the original wounds that gave rise to the parts, to feel more inner and outer connection, understand and be better understood, meet our needs, and relate with others in ways that support balance, harmony and generativity in life.
Perhaps everything that frightens us is,
in its deepest essence,
something helpless that wants our love.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
For clients who feel called to connect more deeply with the natural world, I bring an ecopsychology framework to the therapeutic container. Ecopsychology is a transdisciplinary field that focuses on the synthesis of ecology and psychology, recognizing the emotional bond between humans and the Earth, and promoting techniques and frameworks that nurture our felt sense of relationship with and belonging to nature.
All of my client work is trauma-informed, meaning that I recognize the prevalence of adverse experiences among people in modern society and I have undergone training to work safely and in an empowering way with clients who have suffered trauma. I practice this by prioritizing safety, transparency and trust, collaboration and mutuality, consent and choice, and awareness of intersectionality in the therapeutic container.
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my identity and positionality as a therapist
I am a queer, middle-class, able-bodied, cis-gender woman of Jewish and European ancestry. I have lived experience recovering from eating disorders, body dysmorphia and sexual trauma through therapy, plant medicine/psychedelic work and meditation.
The modern western mental health care system conceptualizes difficult experiences as diseases or disorders located within the individual. This framing fails to acknowledge factors that impact our well-being such as trauma, access to resources, and systemic oppression. I bring a politicized lens to my work with clients, and an open mind to respect and understand individual viewpoints and how they interact with our past experiences and present circumstances.
I believe that identity is an important part of knowing ourselves and one another, and I strive to maintain competency to understand the cultural and historical context and lived experience of the clients who come to me for support.
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“It is unnatural to see the state of the world and carry on like everything is fine. It's okay not to be okay
may we be brave enough to stay sensitive to the collective pain without turning numb or cynical
it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
- Jiddu Krishnamurti
Who is this work for?
Clients come to me for support as they meet various challenges, such as:
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Anxiety
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Depression
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Feeling “stuck”
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Complex trauma that may manifest as what is clinically called eating disorders, addiction, OCD, mood disorders, dissociation
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Struggles with energy and sleep
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Relationship to self and others
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Existential questions and dilemmas
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Self esteem
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Communication struggles
My clients come from a diverse spectrum of class and cultural backgrounds and identities. I enjoy working with clients who work in professions of care, such as therapists and healing practitioners. I welcome clients who identify as polyamorous or are in relationships that transcend the traditional, and people who practice kink and BDSM.
Energy Exchange: Sliding scale
Rate: $120-$200/session (50 min.)
Pay what you can for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and disabled folks
I strive to offer a sliding scale that is accessible to all. Please contact me if you would like to work together and are not able to pay within the range of the sliding scale