Specialties

  • Mental Health

  • Harm Reduction

  • Life Transitions

  • Postpartum

  • Family

  • Boundaries

Mental Health

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Bipolar

  • Psychosis

  • ADHD

  • Suicide Ideation

 

Without good mental health, it can feel like a struggle to just exist and some may even question this existence to the point of having suicidal thoughts. It is more common than we think! In therapy, we can explore your diagnosis, your symptoms, and learn tools to use to make life less of a struggle. Mental health issues can be caused by chemical imbalances, trauma, and/or situational stresses. With any of these causes, I believe it is important to focus on the symptoms and how to mitigate them. All of these diagnosis are friends and they like to travel in packs so in therapy, we can explore how they relate to each other and how to address them individually and in relation to one another.

Harm Reduction

Another great friend of mental illness is substance use. Using substances can be a quick fix to get rid of unwanted thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, use can lead to negative consequences which in turn creates a breeding ground for feelings of shame and guilt. One way to reduce those feelings is to use again and this is how the cycle continues. A Harm Reduction approach is used for many substances as well as different levels of use. Providing clean needles to those who struggle with IV drug use is Harm Reduction. Reducing wine consumption from 2 glasses to 1 glass is Harm Reduction. It is all about exploring your relationship to your substance of choice, setting a plan to change your use pattern, and exploring why it worked or not.

If you stop all use then great! If you keep using, then great! This is not about shame, guilt, or judgement. It is about exploration.

Life Transitions

As we age, it is inevitable that we will experience multiple transitions. Some choose to view these transitions as decades while others may view transitions as benchmarks such as leaving their childhood home, having a child, or having a parent die. However you chose to look at it, these transitions challenge our identities as well as how we relate to the world. In therapy, we can explore what it is like to transition, the anxiety around these transitions, the societal expectations, and how you envision your future.

Postpartum

Becoming a mother is hard enough even without feeling depressed and/or anxious. I hear woman often say that didn’t even realize that they were depressed after giving birth. They thought they were tired and struggling with this new life transition but then in hindsight realized that there was something seriously wrong. In therapy, we can learn self compassion, give a voice to negative feelings and thoughts and learn to hold both good parts of motherhood and well as the not so good parts. Peripartum and postpartum mental health issues are REAL and can include depressive symptoms, anxiety, and even psychosis. Therapy can give you the space to figure out what is tired vs. being mentally compromised and find ways to help yourself. Once you are in the clear of having Postpartum issues, you still have decades to go. In therapy, we can continue to explore your journey of parenthood, learn to be a “good enough” or “imperfect" parent, and set your family up for success.

Family

What does a family even look like these days?!?! The “perfect” family may look very different from the family found in the picture frame that you just bought. The perfect family may be a recently divorced couple that share custody of their 3 kids. The perfect family may be a grandmother and her grandchildren living together. The perfect family may be a mother and her new partner raising both of their children together. In therapy, we can explore what family means to you, the reality of your family, and what changes you would like to make to create a supportive environment for all. Families are messy and discussing the messiness can lead to a greater understanding of the mess makers and quite possibly even a sense of appreciation for them.

Boundaries

Setting boundaries with friends, family, partners, and coworkers can be extremely difficult and it can feel very unnatural at first. It can bring up feelings of not being liked, rejection, challenge your identity as a nice person, and it is a lot of work to discover what your own needs and limits are within your relationships. When our boundaries are disrespected, we can become resentful which in my opinion is one of the most difficult feelings to carry. In therapy, we can identify your needs, values, boundaries followed by an exploration in how to verbally express them to others. Of course, rarely is it that simple. It takes working to understand the boundary pusher, identifying your triggers, and addressing your fears of potential loss of relationships. Yes LOTS of work but work that could lead to having more authentic relationships!