So, Who Comes to See You?

The most frequent follow up question I get to, “what do you do?,” often sounds similar to “who comes to see you?” I’ve found this to be the more difficult question to answer. How do I summarize in a few sentences the amazing and diverse individuals who come through my door?

To preface, not many people typically seek therapy when things in life are “AMAZING.” More commonly we wait until life has bruised us a little, or a lot, before reaching out for added support. To some, this breaking point may look like a transition that no schooling prepared us for, maybe a divorce or a new job. Others find themselves in my office because something that at one time caused no trouble now has significant impairment in their life…perhaps one drink has turned into a few glasses/bottles, sex has become more of a compulsion than a choice, or eating has shifted from nourishing the body to flooding or restricting oneself. The common thread behind each of these very different presentations is an element of wanting to “check-out.”  

Not only does this modern world make “checking out” accessible with just a simple reach for the phone, but we can learn that “checking out” is in some way safer, easier, or more comfortable than being in our own skin. This can sound great until, inevitably we get smacked in the face with the exact thing we worked so hard to avoid.

Nayyirah Waheed once said, “Be easy, take your time, your coming home to yourself.” I like to think my work is in helping people find comfort in coming home to themselves and their experiences. No life challenge, event, debacle can unravel us when we trust our ourselves to think our thoughts, feel our feelings, be in our body, and through all of this… take care of ourselves. I am honored to spend my day’s work helping you take care of you.  

(October 2017)