Marika Joubert (she/her)

I specialize in treating Borderline Personality Disorder, Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders. I see your symptoms as a solution to a problem. They make perfect sense in light of who you are, and what has happened to you. Your brilliant brain has successfully helped you cope and survive. I understand BPD as on the spectrum of trauma disorders and therefore I follow a gentle, trauma-informed approach to therapy. I have also learned in my practice that unintegrated personality states require more than behavioral intervention. My approach is therefore psychodynamic: I model to you curious and compassionate inquiry, and help you attune to your own experience. I believe you can trust yourself. I would love an opportunity to hear your story. I am passionate about helping you feel less isolated and less misunderstood. I primarily use EMDR, Ego State Therapy and DBT as needed.

I humorously refer to myself as a high-functioning borderline, since it helps my clients know I am just as human as they are, and that I am not going to succumb to the shame and stigma of this diagnosis. If I had only one person who understood me in my youth, I would not have had to lose so many years. This is the premise for my work: if I can truly understand and accept you, you can find yourself. I think Carl Rogers said it better: “When a person realizes he has been deeply heard, his eyes moisten. I think in some real sense he is weeping for joy. It is as though he were saying, "Thank God, somebody heard me. Someone knows what it's like to be me.”