I have always been fascinated with people and figuring out the way that we work why we operate the way that we do, why we are the way that we are, I've always been interested in that since I was as young as maybe seven or eight. And so I knew even then that I would love being some kind of therapist, you know someone who works with people all day long, because that just seemed like the most interesting job in the world to me. And I've always wanted to help you know whether you know when I was little, I was like I wanted to grow up to be like Superwoman, I didn't know you couldn't like just become super woman, but I always want to be able to help and to save people from sort of desperate situations and bring them into like a new place of like hope and and joy. And so those things are still true for me today I've been doing this for about 10 years. And I really love the work that I do. That's why I'm still making room for it in my life, and I love working with my clients. They're incredible people. And, you know, seeing their progress seeing them, you know come in and they'll have the feelings that they're having and the stressors they're having. But eventually, shift out of those places, to where, you know, it's no longer just sort of survival mode but actually being able to have excitement about their lives and have a glow about them and tapping into, you know all the things that are possible for them. It makes it such a rewarding, you know career for me. And it's great to know that I can you know that the things that I love and the things I'm good at are combined like this, and then I can serve in this way. So, that's hopefully a lot of what motivates me, you know, I also have a lot of, you know, friends and loved ones growing up who had their own trauma, and have their own struggles with mental health conditions and seeing how, you know, they were affected when they didn't get the help that they needed also strongly motivates me, I think it's just there's no reason for that, there are so many tools out there that help people to experience relief from all kinds of things. That's when I went into grad school to find out what those things were. And there's so many tools and resources available and I just think it's completely unnecessary for folks to just sort of suffer, and just, you know, be resigned to that or get used to that, when there's so much that can be done to make life so different so that's a lot of what motivates me as a therapist and where my drive comes from so thank you for listening.

For those of you who feel nervous about starting therapy for the first time or maybe in a long time. I want you to know that's completely normal, it's how most of us feel when we are starting therapy. Your therapist that you choose has likely gone to therapy and like I do and there's always that beginning period of just wondering like is this going to be the right fit, and then when I call this person up. Is it gonna feel like we're connecting, like oh comfortable talking to this person about really difficult things. And it's okay if you find that you don't feel that way when you make contact with someone for the first time, or you have that first session. The best way I can encourage you is just to take a little leap. Right. If you start something and then feel like this isn't going to be quite right, I think I need to try again. Whoever you have met with whatever therapists you choose to start with, they will understand they're used to that they get it. Truly. So I think just, just be willing to start and see if you can grow and develop that relationship that connection with that particular therapist, and just know that they're used to hearing all kinds of things I know that I'm used to hearing all kinds of emotions and thoughts and about different kinds of experiences. So there really isn't any shame. You can feel a complete freedom to go into that space and know that it is your space is what you're paying for. That's what you're investing in, and you know just finding a space where you feel like it's not only the right fit, but that you feel supported and validated, is exactly what you deserve to find, so keep on searching until you find the right one, and I can't wait for you to get started, I know that my clients who either haven't been in therapy for a while or never been in therapy before I have a lot of clients who have never been in therapy before, and they wish they had started sooner. So I think. I also want to encourage you that they wish they had started sooner because they're like, oh, okay, this is what it's like. This is what I can get from it so best of luck.

So a little bit of what it's like to work with me. I first love to work on just building that trust and that connection between you and I, so that you feel completely safe being able to talk about whatever it is that you came into therapy to explore or to address and recover from that feeling that you are able to be comfortable in your own skin and in that space with me is super important and that's where I always start with my clients. The next thing is I like to really get an assessment of your strengths and talents, your innate abilities and the qualities that make you special. These are things that we come back to time and time again and I'm always kind of building sort of my, my internal mental model of of you and what you bring in those different ways, because I like to help my clients access those things when we're talking about areas that are much more difficult, right and finding ways to translate the special skills and abilities from one area to another. That's a lot easier said than done so I love to support my clients through that process, and eventually it becomes something that they get really good at like replicating and catching that and learning how to do that for themselves. And so that's a big part of the work that I do. I also love to use mindfulness and yoga if you're comfortable with that to help you get unstuck and access different parts of your emotional and spiritual body, so that you're able to really process emotions and even past them, maybe kind of resigning in your system and haven't really worked their way through. I'm a strong believer that things need to be expressed. Not in a haphazard way right not in a careless way, but there's a way in which we need to express and kind of move experiences through our systems so that we can really be free of them, as well as have better control over how they impact us being able to use them for great information as opposed to being controlled by those things. So that's a huge part of the way I work as well. And I also have just an extensive humungous toolbox of coping skills and different exercises and homework. I do assigned homework that I love to use for my clients. And again it's all in service of getting them relief as quickly as possible so they can go back to, like they recognize themselves right and that they are happy to be, you know where they are at this point in life. And so that they can begin to see a way not only just through the current situation. But to begin to work on goals that they have for themselves into the future, like getting excited about what else is possible, and being able to explore those things as well. So that's a little taste of what it's like to work with me. If that sounds like a great fit for where you are today, please don't hesitate to reach out and give me a call.