I believe we all have the capacity to excel and thrive as our true authentic selves but oftentimes the world gets in the way – we are fed cultural messaging about who we “should” be and what we should be doing, we may experience traumatic events or the ongoing erosion of complex trauma, we onboard stress and anxiety and get stuck in cycles or perspectives that don’t align with our values. Sometimes this results in feeling lost or disconnected from the things that used to bring joy and ease. I’m passionate about creating a safe space for clients to reconnect with themselves, first working through removing what is causing distress and then building up strengths and uncovering areas that feel authentic and warm.
A few tools and therapeutic modalities I use for this are Narrative therapy, Internal Family systems, some somatic work to rebuild that connection to self, and sometimes some envisioning activities from art therapy. Narrative therapy believes that we use stories to create meaning in our lives and when we focus on problem areas and beliefs inherited from family and cultural systems, we start to live a story that is not aligned with our values. Through psychotherapy we edit the narrative and rebuild one that suits.
Internal Family systems holds that we all have parts that interact with the Self to protect it. These can play the role of manager, firefighter, protector and etc. but while their actions may have worked at one time, they are no longer contributing in a helpful way and through therapy can be untangled and removed to let the self shine.
If you have questions or are interested in learning more about this process, click here to book a free consult with me. I love talking about this stuff, and even better love seeing the glow of people living their values.
