My Approach
My approach to therapy is grounded in social justice and anti-oppression, and guided by narrative, feminist, and somatic experiencing frameworks. This means that I bring a few core beliefs to each therapeutic relationship:
You – not me! Or anyone else! - are the expert in your own life and experiences.
Each therapeutic relationship is different. I will strive to follow your needs, passions, and curiosities during our time working together.
Our lives are shaped by the stories we and others tell us about who we are, as well as the stories our bodies and nervous systems hold. When we decide to come to therapy, it’s often because stories about problems (and about how WE are a problem) are dominating our lives. My role is to help you examine these stories and your relationship to them, and to explore, create, and sometimes change them.
We all have power, make choices, and resist oppression and injustice, every day. The contexts in which we do all of these things vary greatly. They are informed by our identities, the communities we belong to, and systems and structures that perpetuate privilege and oppression, such as racism, settler colonialism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexism.
Above all else, I value authenticity, consent, transparency, individual agency, creativity, and the power of stories.
My role as a therapist is not to analyze, diagnose, pathologize, or label you, and it’s also not to give advice. Instead, my role is to be curious about the meaning you give to your experiences, actions, and choices, support your connection with your nervous system, and to ask questions that may help you shift your relationship to problems or challenges you are facing.
Together, we can create ways for you to move forward that are in line with your values and the life you want to live.