Individual Therapy
Fully engage in the work of becoming yourself. Build tolerance for your present feelings and comfort past pains.
Start here.
At the beginning of therapy, many of my clients feel overwhelmed by daily anxiety, overthinking, and uncertainty. They work hard to keep themselves busy and the shadow of their next depressive episode out of the frame. They want more from relationships but aren’t sure how to stop running away or lashing out when hurt. They feel stuck in cycles of chronic caretaking where their needs are rarely addressed. They want to show up more authentically in their connections and aren’t sure how.
Individual therapy that is relational explores how we show up in connections with ourselves and others.
I work with people who feel blocked by past wounds and seek healing so they can connect with more ease. They may be starting individual therapy because they feel unsatisfied in their relationships and not sure they’re in for the commitment of couples therapy. They want to focus on themselves first. They are accustomed to caring for everyone else and are pursuing therapy as a way to care for themself.
Sometimes clients begin therapy with a hunch as to the experiences that are still impacting them today: a breakup, transitions in their identity, past trauma, or familial wounds. Maybe they’ve spent hours in self-help books, feverishly journaling, combing through events with friends, or working with another therapist. They may have a sense of the ways they replay the roles of their past. Insight alone doesn’t seem to make a difference in their lives, they feel stuck showing up to the same old problems in the same old ways.
Slow down and build a better relationship with yourself.
In session, we hold the why of how we respond to our world–not so it’ll finally make sense and we can finally cut it out–but so we can build compassion for the parts of ourselves that learned at a very young age to protect us. As we begin to explore our automatic responses we create space to experience our exiled emotions. The work of slowing down and mindfully building tolerance for these feelings, as well as new rhythms of compassion and attuned self-care, creates a corrective experience. We show up differently with ourselves, creating a secure attachment and opening up the possibility of feeling securely attached to others.
More often than not, the ultimate goal in therapy is to change the relationship with ourselves. We explore the cultural and familial stories that impact how we respond to our emotions, tending to these parts of ourselves so we can integrate and celebrate emerging identities.
