Services
About My Clients
I particularly enjoy working with issues of identity, complex grief/loss, academic and career burnout, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, personality disorders, spirituality, religious trauma, queer relational structures (ENM, polyamory, kink), performance anxiety, and existential concerns.
My Background and Approach
My perspectives on human suffering, growth, and flourishing have been shaped by direct experiences on my own circuitous life path. Prior to pursuing formal training as a therapist, I spent eight years in Zen Buddhist practice, six of which were at a remote mountain monastery in west Japan. There I received priest ordination and completed the head monk ceremony within the Soto Zen tradition. These experiences shaped my core understanding that only through acceptance of the totality of the internal landscape can healing occur. True mindfulness is not a tool we use to feel good, but rather a radical expression of acceptance that transcends fleeting emotions. From this posture of stability we are free to move in whatever direction we choose, guided by what we really care about rather than what we are trying to avoid.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I believe that human growth occurs naturally when the barriers to it are removed, and psychotherapy is a particularly effective means of doing so. Because you already possess everything you need to grow and flourish, my role is not to impose rules, directives, or "tools" on you. Rather, my purpose is to create an environment of trust and safety where you are able to face what you have been avoiding. Although I do not believe that imposing directives is therapeutic, I am highly active in my approach to counseling. I lean into profound exploration through incisive questions, deep reflections, and non-attachment to my own ego. Together, we will begin to experience the fluid process that is your authentic self--free and unencumbered by rigid and harmful narratives.