Services
About My Clients
I believe in the importance of centering the lives and stories of those who have experienced (and are experiencing) erasure and historical violence across diasporas of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class, and every level of ability. I view therapy as a compassionate space to explore identity and trauma (both micro and macro-level) and investigate the narratives we receive from the world around us. Through this work we can live authentically, honoring our unique strengths and values.
My Background and Approach
My approach to therapy stems from my eclectic education and fosters curiosity, creativity, and compassion. I use a trauma-informed and strengths-based lens informed by social justice, intersectionality, and values that oppose capitalist and colonialist frameworks. Therapy can offer a unique space to explore social constructs, challenge norms and myths, and investigate our beliefs (beliefs about ourselves, our identity, our relationships, the world). For anyone interested, I bring art and/or somatic bodywork into therapy in addition to traditional skills and tools. Since learning is diverse I like to honor auditory, visual, spatial, and kinesthetic needs. Art serves many purposes within therapy: it allows us to sit with emotions, it can help when we are over-intellectualizing or over-controlling of ourselves, and it can push us out of our comfort zone (just to name a few of the ways expressive arts can be therapeutic). Ultimately, the therapy experience will as unique as you are.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I'm a rural transplant and use a lot of nature-heavy metaphors. I believe in challenging ideas of linear progress and productivity, alternatively emphasizing the cyclical nature of healing and the importance of sustaining ourselves within this world. We learn from nature to respect and care for ourselves and our ecosystem, and that resilience becomes more possible when there is diversity and community. Even with all the bad, there continues to be a lot of magic and meaning out there. It is also important for me to be active within Chicago's LGBTQIA+ community and in local politics. As a rural transplant I understand the necessity of feeling like you belong so that you can grow (like a sprout with the potential to mess up some concrete). It's also necessary for me to explore nearby green space, neat little coffee shops, and watch weird old movies (for balance). I aim to be at least as half as mindful and at peace as my corgi always seems to be.