About Therapy
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment with openness, curiosity, and non-judgment. In our therapy sessions, I'll guide you to develop this skill and apply it to your thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations.
On the healing path, mindfulness is a core skill, a fundamental practice that improves the efficacy of therapy across the board. Mindfulness is easy - we just need to remember it!
One of the key benefits of mindfulness-based therapy is its ability to help you step back from overwhelming thoughts and emotions. You'll learn to observe your experiences without getting caught up in them, which can be particularly helpful for managing stress, anxiety, trauma, and depression.
In our sessions, we might explore how mindfulness can be applied to specific issues you're facing. For instance, we might use mindful awareness to investigate the bodily sensations associated with anxiety, or to notice the thoughts that arise during difficult emotional states.
Mindfulness-based therapy has been shown to be effective for a wide range of concerns, including stress reduction, emotional regulation, chronic pain management, and improving overall life satisfaction. It can help you develop greater self-awareness, resilience, and a deeper sense of inner calm.
What sets this approach apart is its focus on developing skills you can use long after our therapy sessions end. The mindfulness practices you learn become tools you can carry with you, helping you navigate life's ups and downs with greater ease and clarity. Therefore, I will encourage you to establish a daily mindfulness practice, as it often greatly improves the benefits of therapy.
In therapy sessions, mindfulness is woven in with talking. For instance, you may tell me what’s been going on for you, and after talking about it for a little while, I may invite you to notice what you experience in the present moment as you speak. This tends to accelerate the process of therapy and make it more potent.
Somatic therapy employs body awareness in order to release stored emotions and trauma, and to become aware of unconscious, self limiting beliefs and behavior patterns that keep us stuck. As your therapist, I'll guide you to become aware of your present moment experiences—your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Together, we'll use these as doorways to understand the deeper patterns that shape your life.
In our sessions, I might invite you to notice your posture, the tone of your voice, or the emotions that arise as you speak. We'll work collaboratively, always moving at a pace that feels safe and comfortable for you.
In somatic therapy, we employ the use of “little experiments” in mindfulness. For example, I might recite a simple phrase to you, and then we'll observe how your body and mind respond. These explorations can reveal unconscious beliefs and memories. Once a core-belief pattern is made conscious, you gain the freedom to choose new behaviors that are more effective towards fulfilling your deepest desires in life.
Somatic therapy is particularly effective for healing from childhood traumas, improving relationships, and fostering deep transformational growth. It can help you develop greater self-awareness, emotional regulation, and a deeper sense of connection with yourself and others.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) is based on the idea that our minds are naturally multiple - made up of different "parts" or subpersonalities. These parts each have their own perspectives, feelings, and roles within our internal system. At the core of this system is the "Self," our true essence that's capable of healing and leading our internal world harmoniously.
As your therapist, I'll guide you to identify and understand these different parts of yourself. We'll explore how they interact, what roles they play in your life, and how they might be trying to protect you. Some parts might carry burdens from past experiences, while others might be stuck in outdated patterns.
In our sessions, we'll work to access your Self - that calm, compassionate core within you. From this place, you'll learn to relate to your parts with curiosity and kindness. Over time, your experience shifts from one of internal conflict to self love and rest.
IFS is particularly effective for addressing issues like anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship difficulties. It can help you develop greater self-understanding, emotional balance, and inner harmony.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is based on the understanding that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected. As your therapist, I'll work with you to identify patterns in your thinking and behavior that may be contributing to your difficulties. Together, we'll develop strategies to recognize unhelpful thoughts and adopt more balanced, realistic perspectives.
CBT is most effective when used with mindfulness. With an awareness of the body and emotions, we become aware of how distorted or irrational thoughts feel uncomfortable while flexible, rational, and positive thoughts tend to feel relaxing and energizing.
CBT is particularly effective for issues such as anxiety, depression, stress management, improving self esteem and overcoming core limiting beliefs.
One of the strengths of CBT is its focus on empowering you with tools you can use long after therapy ends. You'll gain insights and techniques that you can apply to future challenges, promoting long-term resilience and well-being.
Gestalt therapy was the first mindfulness based psychotherapy developed in the west. IFS and Somatic Therapy are, in large part, derived from Gestalt, therefore, there is a natural crossover between them in my practice.
Gestalt emphasizes the present moment as a way to heal unresolved mental and emotional issues from the past. If something from the past is holding us back, that means it’s with us here and now in some way, often as a persistent physical tension.
One common Gestalt technique is called “the empty chair.” In this, I will invite you to act out and verbalize two sides of an unresolved conflict, either one between you and someone in your life or between two distinct parts of yourself. By facilitating this dialogue, empathy and understanding arise, allowing the conflict to naturally settle.
Gestalt also emphasizes our responsibility as individuals to make skilful choices that best serve our wellbeing. Often, the behaviors that are keeping us stuck are things we are unknowingly doing, that is, we are trying to do our best, but are acting in ways that are not skillful towards actualizing our needs and desires. By becoming aware of these well meaning, yet self-defeating patterns, we can learn to choose something new, something leading towards resolution, peace, and fulfillment.
Transpersonal Counseling recognizes that, for some people, it’s important to include the spiritual dimension in therapy. I might help you with feelings of spiritual disconnection or exploring different meditations, practices, or spiritual traditions you may be drawn to.
I may support you with a psychedelic or spiritual experience you’ve had. Or, we might explore existential questions like “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose?” Transpersonal Counseling recognizes that we are spiritual beings and that this dimension is very much tied to our psychological health.