How I do Therapy
“...being a therapist is less about making a living, and more about living my life. Simply put, it’s a way of paying attention, which is the purest form of love.”
In the broadest sense, I approach therapy like reading or writing a story. When we read stories, we look for how the events of the narrative shaped a character. Sometimes, that history happens off-page, and we must guess what happened. Other times, the events unfold in clear view. Therapy is a very similar process for me; I try to understand the story of the person I'm working with as deeply as possible, and I try to help them understand it as well. My role as a therapist is to be present, listen well, and pay attention while coming alongside someone in need and helping them navigate a difficult portion of life's journey. I am interested in assisting people in digging deeper into their story so they can better understand where they came from, who they are, and where they may be going.
Like many mental health professionals, I was trained in the medical model of therapy, which focuses on diagnosing and treating mental illness or disorders in the same way a medical doctor would. I prefer an approach focused less on "sickness" and instead seeks to create space for clients to explore and understand their past, empower them to make changes in their present, and encourage them to pursue the future they want. My work is grounded in theories and experiences focusing on how our early life and internal forces shape and impact our behavior. I am client-centered and somewhat eclectic in my approaches because I don't think there is a "one size fits all" way to do therapy or to understand my clients, so I make sure to be as holistic as possible, focusing on all the parts of a person. I draw heavily from psychodynamic, attachment theory, interpersonal schools of thought, and family systems theory.
I affirm the intrinsic dignity and beauty of every person. To that end, my work is inherently focused on liberation; it is antiracist, compassionate, and aims toward a transformation of society. I will never discriminate against clients based on sex, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, ethnicity, race, nationality, socioeconomic status, or belief system.