My Approach to Helping
There is so much fear and uncertainty in our world today and it’s easy to get caught in anxiety, despair, and hopelessness. Many people feel unseen, unheard, and doubt their presence matters, so if you are struggling with feeling lonely, disconnected, or isolating out of fear of someone’s toxic anger, you are not alone! Counseling can be a wonderful source of support and healing and I’d be honored to walk with you on this journey.
We’ll start by creating a safe, warm, and nurturing space to explore the world inside of you, so you can identify and heal the patterns keeping you stuck. Painful life experiences can cause you to be self-critical, doubt your value and worth, and dismiss your needs and wants to avoid conflict and please others. This is usually when you turn to substances to help you cope or numb your pain. But this is an exhausting way to live and over time, impacts your self-esteem, the quality of your relationships and your health.
I believe you deserve to treat yourself with compassion and loving-kindness. Learning how to do this is the foundation of my approach to healing because I believe it helps us find the wisdom, beauty, and gifts, buried in our pain. Consider how a pearl is formed. It starts out as an irritant that invades the shell of an oyster, which responds by coating it with a protective fluid, depositing layer upon layer upon it, until a luminous pearl emerges. When you learn to coat all the irritated parts of you with compassion and loving-kindness, a beautiful pearl of wisdom emerges that helps you appreciate how much you’ve grown and who you’ve become as a result. And as an added benefit, when you learn to extend compassion and loving-kindness to the world inside of you, it’s much easier to offer it in the world outside of you. So just by doing your own inner healing work, you make the world a better, kinder place to live!
More Info About My Practice
I earned my master’s degree in social work from Tulane University in New Orleans and offer holistic counseling for individuals, couples, and groups (age 18 and older) in Florida. My areas of specialty include increasing self-esteem, healing trauma, navigating grief and loss, overcoming addictive behaviors, and integrating spirituality and psychology.
I am certified in Gestalt therapy and RLT for couples (Relational Life Therapy), with extensive training in using Mindfulness, Somatic Awareness Techniques, and IFS (Internal Family Systems) to heal trauma. In February we’ll be launching our new website, so if you’d like to learn more, please contact me now to schedule your free 15 minute consultation so I can learn more how I can help.
Here are some benefits to holistic counseling:
• Experiencing more love, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, and self-awareness.
• Feeling more hopeful about the future, with a sense of inner calm and safety, regardless of your
circumstances.
• Freeing yourself from long standing issues and healing from trauma.
• Identifying and expressing your feelings, so you get your needs met and increase your self-esteem.
• Expanding your capacity to give and receive love and create more supportive relationships.
• Finding your voice and leading with compassion.
• Feeling more connected to nature and a part of your community, and the world.
• Knowing that you belong and that your presence matters.
• Clarifying your purpose; with renewed creative inspiration about how to use your talents to make a
difference in the lives of others.
• Increasing your confidence in your intuitive guidance and inner wisdom.
• Discovering the hidden gifts buried in your pain.
• Reclaiming your ability to use the light and power inside of you for good in the world outside of you.
Not sure counseling is for you? Worried it means you are weak or flawed in some way?
I believe healthy people go to therapy! If you fell, hurt your knee and were in physical pain, you probably wouldn’t think you were weak or flawed if you needed physical therapy. It would help you heal and get back to living your life. I think the same is true if you are experiencing emotional pain, psychotherapy can help you heal so that you can get back to living your life with more happiness, hope and wellbeing. That’s not weak, that’s wise!
What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist
All of us had painful life experiences that cause us to doubt who we are, what we deserve, and what we are capable of. But no matter what you?ve experienced, I believe there is still a part of you that has never been harmed, hurt, or damaged in anyway. This is your true nature, or your true Self, and this is the part of you that can always be compassionate and kind to the other parts of you in pain. Helping clients restore their connection to this part of them brings me deep joy, because healing happens when we bring things to light. Once you reconnect with your true essence, (or the spark of light inside of you), everything in your life will change for the better. And just in case you doubt this part of you exists, I can assure you it does! In 25 years, I?ve never met a client who didn?t have a true Self deep inside (like buried treasure waiting to be discovered), longing to bring more light, hope and healing in your life. Helping my clients through this process and illuminating the pathway forward, is a sacred gift that I?m always in awe of and feel grateful to have the privilege to facilitate.
Clinicians who offer sliding scale payment structures may offer lower or reduced fees based on an individual's ability to pay. Please contact this clinician for more details regarding their fees or sliding scale policy.