Katarina Wittekind (she/her)

We go through the grieving process not just with physical death, but ending of relationships, job transitions, learning we have to let go of a dream that can't be realized, moving to a new place, the list goes on. In our culture we do not have ritual and socially created spaces to grieve all of the losses that come up throughout our lives. I provide space to normalize that experience and help people move with it and find meaning in whatever is next.

Stress is something that so often we feel in not only our minds but our bodies. My somatic based approach to therapy helps people learn how to recognize what stress feels like in the body, how to manage it, and how to make life changes to decrease it. So often our nervous systems can get stuck in stress cycles that we need some help navigating out of. I use a holistic based approach to look at multiple areas of your life and how they interconnect to promote or decrease stress.

So much of how we relate to others is based on how securely we were attached to our primary caregivers at a young age, as well as the primary relationships that have followed into adulthood. I help people to become aware of their attachment styles they can learn to recognize them and work their way back to security.

I use polyvagal theory and other somatic-based approaches to foster a mind-body awareness and offer tools to find a greater sense of safety and social connection. Each session we start by doing a grounding practice that nurtures a mind/body connection. I help clients to recognize ques that their bodies are giving them that are sometimes a felt sense of danger, stress, or illness. But can also be our nervous system getting stuck in fight, flight or freeze as a result of trauma.

I am certified in dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), which utilizes mindfulness to explore how to regulate ourselves in times of stress and develop healthier boundaries and communication in relationships. This is a skills based approach that gives the client tools to navigate stress, relationships, and conflict.

With CBT we will explore the ways our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence our lives. This can include looking at the thought patterns that we engage in most when we are not doing well and making conscious choices to not engage with them. Giving space between ourselves and our thoughts, and looking at patterns we engage with naturally and how we can use our strengths to our advantage.

If you are looking for a space to process relationships from a non-heteronormative or monogamous point of view it is important to have a space to safely explore that. If you have been engaging in non-traditional relationships for years or are just becoming interested in different ways of relating in partnership there is space for you here to process and grow.