MY SPECIALTIES
CLINICAL SUPERVISION
Are you searching for a supervisor that supports your growth and your development as a clinician?
My job as a supervisor is to meet you where you are and to support you to grow the way you want to grow. My style is to ask a lot of questions about your needs and wants, to see what you want support with. Let's do a free consultation to see if we are a good match for your growth and development!
My work is very influenced by Narrative, Liberation, Social Therapy, positive and strengths based work, humanistic and relational therapy. I have worked with interns and clinicians who have a multiplicity of education, training, and backgrounds, and appreciate being able to be curious and inquisitive together in order to support you becoming the therapist you want to be.
GROUP THERAPY
In my experience group therapy is a much faster route to emotional growth and development; a much more healing environment; a serious challenge to being "in our heads"; an antidote to isolation which is so prevalent during the pandemic; and a powerful solution to what ails us. You may not feel "ready" or "interested" in this method, and, if you are willing to try it, I promise the things you are challenged by in life will shift more quickly.
In group therapy we can learn to listen with an openness that is rare in other situations. Listen in order to create, not to evaluate, assess or negate. People often listen selectively to what others are saying—to hear something they agree or disagree with, to assess the “truth” of what is said, to size up the speaker, or to hear the pause that signals “it’s my turn now.” If we learn to listen as part of caring about others it can significantly shift how we feel and act in the world.
Building community is critical to human development and learning. Humans are social beings. We are relational and frequently a part of something larger than ourselves. We - and the world we live in - are continuously growing, changing, and developing. Humans can transform ourselves and our communities. Through relational work and relationships—our connectedness, and the collaborative nature of human activity – we grow and things get done.
The language of theatre does a much better job of capturing how people are socially connected and how we create things together than psychological terminology/jargon does. Envision life itself as a series of stages - upon which people in ensembles, groups, and teams create the "scenes" of our lives. These life scenes are created through performing, playing and improvising. Performance—being who we are, and also at the same time “other” than who we are—is at the core of engaging and responding to our emotional, social and intellectual environments in new ways. It taps into our human capacity to work and to play, and to create with others.
Human beings are both determined by existing circumstances (what is) and, very importantly, have the capacity to transform our selves and our circumstances into something new (what is becoming).
RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING
I work with polyamory, consensual / ethical non monogamy, any two or more people in any kind of relationship. Relationship work frequently focuses on communications, especially listening, the importance of the "other," asking for what you want and what you need, being giving to the other person, and seeing what is actually possible.
I also do relationship counseling if requested for work relationships, roommate or other living situations, organizing or political communities, friends, etc.
Creating relationships where everyone has their needs met is powerful!
FAMILY THERAPY
Family therapy is the hardest work because it involves multiple people who frequently have different goals or understandings, which is why outside professional support may be needed. Parents and children almost always have differing ideas of what the problem is. In order to do family therapy successfully, each person needs to be open to participating - and ideally have a therapist of their own to deal with and work on the things that come up in these sessions.
BODY LIBERATION + FAT LIBERATION + HAES
I am a registered HAES provider.
Culture and society in the US values youth, fitness, being able bodied, sports, appearance, diet culture, and so many other harmful Norms.
Norm is probably an older white cishet man. He's probably married to Norma, an older cishet woman. Norm probably has one of the jobs that people use as stereotypes for conservatives, is probably from some stereotypical conservative town, and does not want change of any kind for any reason. He and Norma are probably the reason that our culture is so stuck in problematic ways of relating to people. And we have probably absorbed some of Norm and Norma's ways of thinking because its all around us all the time.
This fatphobic environment we live in encourages people, especially medical providers, to be dismissive at best of people who are fat for any reason, supports chronic dieting, and frequently leads fat people into eating disorders and unhealthy relationships with food.
Whatever the reasons are for people being fat, the medical profession, our friends, families, workplaces tend to have negative thoughts and feelings about fat people - and relate to fatness as a moral failure.
If you struggle with emotional eating, binge eating, being fat in a fatphobic world, want community and support, want to live your best fat life but don't know how, if you take medication that has led to weight gain, if you want to just be accepted as a human being ... please consider joining one of the groups I run. I strongly recommend working with a HAES dietician if you have not already done so and engaging with the Intuitive Eating model.
ANXIETY
Anxiety is one of the most common challenges people deal with. Frequently this can show up in avoiding, controlling, fear or nervousness. Anxiety likes to be in charge. I like to talk to what I call the Anxiety Creature and see what it feels it needs; to give the Anxiety Creature a name; to remind clients that frequently anxiety is a response to real challenges or concerns that may need to be addressed. The Anxiety Creature may be getting in our way or causing problems and we will discover what is possible to do differently. Can be improved in various ways including movement, engagement with nature, and not allowing the Anxiety Creature to be in charge of you any longer
SUBSTANCE USE RECOVERY
I have years of experience and expertise in treating substance use through a variety of techniques and methodologies. A Recovery Team is key to this process, and usually includes a professional treatment team, a support network of friends and peers, and a living situation that supports recovery. If you have a treatment team in place, wonderful. If you do not, we can support you to create one.
My work is an alternative to 12 step and religious based recovery, where we focus on harm reduction not abstinence. The Recovery Team is generally for people who have or have had more than six months in recovery, as we know that slipping and getting up again is one of the most important things we can do.
Substance use gremlins are no match for a Recovery Team!
LGBTQ+
All queer clients are welcome. Experienced working with gender and sexuality. Some people relate only to the challenges, and those are very real and some of them are serious - I also want to celebrate queerness in our work, however that works for you! We do need to deal with the pain, and, we don't benefit from staying there forever.
BIPOC
I identify as a white middle class woman. I have spent years working on my own racism. I am aware that I make terrible mistakes sometimes and I continue to work on becoming a better clinician and human being in the world who is aware of their privileges. I work hard to create an environment where you feel comfortable enough to work together and so you can tell me if I have done something that is not ok. All white people makes mistakes and being able to admit it and work to repair it is incredibly important. I have mostly worked with black people including Caribbean-Americans.
DEPRESSION
Depression. Is depression something that shows up in your life in the wintertime? Are you a person with multiple oppressed / marginalized identities? Sometimes depression is the only sensible-feeling response to an insane world. Sometimes it can be hard to tell depression is visiting us, as we can blame ourselves for not doing enough or being enough. What is your experience with depression?
Depending on how intense the depression is, we will work on different goals to help get you help get you back to what well-being means for you as quickly as possible or help you to navigate the blocks and barriers Depression puts in the way. Sometimes depression wants to be witnessed and heard before it will leave, or cared about. Depression can be a response to hard situations that feel like there is no solution. Lets meet your depression together and see what works for you.
CHRONIC
People who are dealing with the challenges of a chronic condition or multiple chronic conditions can benefit from professional and community support. In this capitalist influenced world that values being able bodied, healthy, and rarely even asks about accommodations, being in community with others makes all the difference. We provide support, caring, resources, a discord server, laughter, provider recommendations, and the opportunity to be valued for who we are right now. These groups are virtual.
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
Short term individual therapy for up to one year. Generally I prefer to do individual work in conjunction with group or relationship counseling (sometimes this is with other therapists). Most of my individual therapy work is at my Base Rate.
STRESS
Stress is endemic in our lives. The most frequent sources of stress are work, finances, relationships, oppression and marginalization, access needs not being met, inadequate support, and a shaky foundation for our lives. Let's discover where your stress is coming from and what we can do about it.
IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES
I have worked with refugees from Africa, the Middle East, Vietnam, and Russia.
Most often I work with the children of immigrants who are in conflict with their parents over assimilation, acculturation, expectations, needs and wants.