It’s mid-afternoon, and the sun shines in the window casting a stunning glow of warm, inviting light on a sofa, making you feel like you could melt into the pillows.
As you walk into the office and sit down, you feel the heat from the sun warming the couch on your back as you take in the many plants, works of art, and sacred spaces prepared in the room.
You notice a face smiling at you with kindness and interest. Across from you sits me. What is next?
I will meet you here, whatever you bring, tales of tragedy, reports of trauma, narratives of distress, chronicles of events that shaped your life, epic accounts of generational abuse.
We can even begin without words if that feels right. I welcome you to grab some art supplies and draw what is present for you.
Each story is unique. Each process is unique. We will walk together as you unfold yours.
With humor, compassion, some therapeutic cussing, and gentle challenges, we notice where you feel stuck and what the strands are to unravel the knots.
Over time, with support, you will recognize choices you make that create the stuck, choices that were not yours that may require grieving, and choices you could make that you never dreamed were possible.
In therapy, you find yourself! Who could you be if – that trauma never happened, you were free of self-doubt, the spiraling thoughts stopped, you had the motivation to get out of bed, you grew up in a loving family environment, others did not tease you at school, etc.?
We may never know the answer because what happened is part of you. However, when what happened becomes a chapter in the story of who you are and what you want in this one precious life we have, it loses the power of being the whole story, and you get to rediscover yourself and possibly the gifts beneath the events.
My motto as a therapist is that I stand with the one who stands and says enough!
I, too, have a story of trauma and triumph, one with a generational twist. My grandfather was drafted into war as a child and left that war with numerous horrific, never addressed traumas passed on to his family – and down the familial line.
I have helped women just like you find peace, love, Growing up in a dysfunctional family, I often battled anxiety and depression from unresolved traumas. As a child, I struggled in school with several behavioral problems. The constant teasing and bullying by peers and teachers made matters worse.
Later in my education, I decided that I could do better and became a high-strung, stressed-out, overachiever constantly worrying about everything.
In college, I lost an aunt on whom I performed CPR. This event was a pivotal turning point for me. I entered therapy and began unraveling past and present traumas that held me back from being me and made me afraid to step forward. I took a stand, saying enough was enough and setting some boundaries.
Therapy helped me re-write some old scripts playing in my head around being unworthy. I opened my heart, made friends, began dating, and had more fun. I was still a high-achieving student, just not so high-strung!
I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Metropolitan State College of Denver with a degree in psychology and delivered the graduating speech.
Therapy helped me believe in myself, and I continued my education in graduate school, where I attended Naropa University, a three-year program dedicated to eastern and western methods of self-reflection and therapeutic process.
After Naropa, I engaged in another round of therapy – sometimes, it takes more than one. This round helped me become who I truly wanted to be but had trouble finding through the weeds of the past.
I am now married to a fantastic man I adore profoundly. I am a dog mom to three amazing pups and enjoy travel, deep and meaningful friendships, and the freedom I feel from old wounds.
Got some shit?
Are you in your shit?
Want help with that shit?
I know shit.
I was born into some shit, lived through some shit, and worked on some shit.
I realized a lot of that shit wasn’t mine and let that shit go.
I figured out my own shit and became the shit,
and now I want to help you with your shit.
