So what is a session really like?

Sessions with me feel very different than traditional talk therapy. Clients have described my work as ‘experiential’—rather than just sitting and talking together. My practice is based in mindfulness, and is somatically (body) oriented, inquiry based, and deeply relational. We work together in the present moment, tracking your thoughts, sensations and feelings as we explore what’s getting in the way of what you want for yourself. I am a Master Therapist in the NeuroAffective Relational Model, and use NARM principles to guide our work together. Here’s a little more detail about my process:

Somatically Oriented

Inquiry-Based

Relational

In somatically oriented therapy we track your physiology as well as the content of your story. I will invite you to notice what sensations are present in your body throughout the session, and when they shift. Together we will support your growing awareness of your inner world, and how that relates to the information your body is offering you—what textures, temperatures, and sensations you are experiencing. The body is a bridge, not only to the present moment, but also to information and insight that the mind has developed powerful strategies to manage.

My work is about exploration. I believe that we each have the innate ability to heal, and our work is to explore what’s getting in the way of that natural healing process. I use my own authentic curiosity to help my clients deepen into their experience, and bring awareness to the unconscious and automatic ways they relate to themselves and the world. As young children, we often did not receive curiosity from the adults around us about our inner experience, and so we also lost our own curiosity about ourselves. Together, we reconnect to this natural interest in your inner world.

All trauma has a relational context, meaning that no matter what hard experience actually happened to us (a car accident, service in the military, being bullied in childhood), there is a fundamental way we are relating to the experience and to ourselves. This is the focus of my work, and why it is essential that I show up authentically with my clients. In our work together we build trust, and co-create the relational security needed to explore your inner landscape. This is a two way process, and a profound source of healing. My intention is for my clients to experience a consent-based relationship that is respectful, heartful, and honest.