Services
About My Clients
The majority of my clients identify as caregivers and carriers of the mental and emotional loads in their circles. They also fill many roles - parent, spouse, employee or business owner, child of aging parents. They commonly: * Prioritize others’ care over their own and fear letting others down * Have difficulty setting boundaries or advocating for themselves * Have critical inner voices and high demands on themselves * Feel overwhelmed, short-tempered, disappointed, and unsupported
My Background and Approach
Though counseling is a second career, I have brought to it a wealth of life experience that helps me connect with people in their relationship and life struggles and meet them with warmth, compassion, care, and confidence. I blend both deep healing work (I'm Level 1 trained in Internal Family Systems) and practical solution-focused approaches (like cognitive and mindfulness) depending on the needs and wants of my clients. When appropriate, I may offer specific guidance based on the issues a client is addressing. At other times, I may be gently holding space for clients to do the inner work to repair wounds of childhood. I also may be serving as a champion and cheerleader as clients make choices and choose new behaviors to change old patterns in their relationships with themselves or significant others. Regardless of our focus, my hope is that clients experience me as a trusted partner, perhaps feeling like some version of an older sister, valued mentor, or wise friend.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I believe that we are living in deeply challenging times as the dominator culture and those that benefit most from it are doubling-down to maintain their control on the levers of power they hold. This means that the evolution and progress that we've experienced is actively being targeted. This negatively impacts the lives of people on the margins (non-whites, gender expansive, neurodiverse, female presenting, less-financially-endowed) and the hearts and spirits of all of us who yearn for more a collaborative, peaceful, sustainable way of life. I work for and support collective action, harm reduction, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental protection nationally and globally. In my community I am supportive of LGBTQ+ initiatives and programs, especially for youth, and am an active volunteer with local animal shelters and foster cats and kittens with my family. I also practice mutual aid in my neighborhood and support local organizations that provide food and shelter to unhoused persons.