History, despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage,
need not be lived again.
~Maya Angelou
I offer somatic, relational psychotherapy in person and via telehealth in California and Wisconsin. As a therapist, I wholeheartedly believe in our innate ability to heal, no matter what trials we may have experienced in life. Often the seeds of healing and transformation are in the very heart of our suffering. With compassion and curiosity, together we will support the healing process within you.
My work is grounded in a profound respect and honor for human beings in all our complexity. As a certified Hakomi therapist, I am deeply influenced by the Hakomi method, as well as relational, ecotherapy and feminist modalities. I am also certified in EMDR and blend my training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and the Enneagram into our work. I draw on my experience in social justice movements, and hold the greater context of privilege, oppression and cultural trauma as interwoven in all of our healing journeys. My spiritual and meditation practices support how I hold my clients and the work we do together.
We are creatures of habit. We respond to and organize our experiences in an effort to make sense of life. Most habits exist outside daily awareness, allowing us to live on autopilot. Much of who we are is governed by what we don't know about ourselves--by beliefs, emotions, memories and unresolved issues. As we shape our lives, our lives shape us. Traditional psychotherapy primarily pays attention to thoughts, emotions and behaviors and it utilizes the words of a person as the entry point for study. In contrast, somatic, or body-oriented therapies depend on your present moment bodily experience as a gateway to awareness and improved well-being. As a somatic psychotherapist, my approach includes being with the felt sense of the body in addition to the observations of the mind. Our bodies are a living record of our life experiences, and they carry information and wisdom that is not available to the mind alone. Mindful awareness of the body can help uncover what is unconscious and would otherwise remain hidden to help you explore your model of reality. Your body's structure, habits and patterns--the way you hold it and use it--can communicate your inner states more loudly than your spoken word. A movement, facial expression, sigh, or hand gesture --as well as how you stand, speak or move, can openly communicate anger, sadness, upset, fear, as well as aliveness and joy. Attuning to the body's innate intelligence can unlock and reveal what is essential, hidden and deeply influential to our beings. Crucial to somatic psychotherapy is the act of making such implicitly held beliefs and somatic knowledge available to you: limiting beliefs can then be gently transformed, which results in more skillful perceptions and behavior. Additionally, I provide education grounded in neuroscience, as well as resourcing techniques to regulate the nervous system and enhance a sense of safety and well-being in the body.
Raised in the Midwest, I lived much of my adult life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I now reside in Wisconsin and am able to see clients in both locations throughout the year. I am thankful to have a diverse practice working with adults of different genders, class backgrounds and racial and ethnic identities. My clients seek therapy for support around:
My specialties include:
Please contact me for my current rates. I provide sliding scale spots when available for those who cannot afford my full fee. I am not on any insurance panels but am happy to provide receipts for insurance reimbursement. Your insurance company will be able to tell you if this is a part of your plan.
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