Depression is not one thing. It’s a personal and ever-changing experience that can make us feel heavy, overwhelmed, lonely, hopeless, and/or disconnected. It is especially effective at creating narratives around shame and self-worth.

Often, depression has a way of sneaking up on us. One day we may stop and realize we are not as happy as we used to be, or perhaps something happens to us that makes us realize that the life we want to live is far away from the life we are currently living.

I offer a gentle space where we can explore what you are feeling without judgement. We will move at a pace that feels right for you. This is not a linear process, rather a continued exploration of your lived experience and what an authentic, connected life looks like for you.

We are humans who live in the world. The world is full of things we can’t control. How do we learn to live with this?

The experience of anxiety is different for everyone, but it can so easily become all encompassing. We may have racing thoughts, racing heartbeats, agitation, even an impending sense of doom. We may avoid social situations or think about them for days after they happen, wondering if we said or did the right thing. This is more normal than you may think.

Therapy is a chance to explore (and maybe even become friends with) your experience of anxiety. We can slowly uncover the root causes and develop a toolbox of coping skills alongside a well of self-knowledge that guides you on how/when to use them.

Living with a chronic illness means living in a body that is hard to trust. Society places such a heavy emphasis on productivity. This can so easily make us feel inadequate, or like we must push through and ‘perform’ wellness to be worthy.

We might be a good fit if you find yourself:

• feeling shame that you are not able to keep up with non-chronically ill people in your life

• feeling grief around a loss of functioning

• struggling to accept your chronic illness and it’s limitations

• struggling to identify when your body needs a break, or struggling to give your body that break

• having experienced traumatic medical gaslighting and had to fight to be heard by the medical establishment

Body Image:

Bodies are fraught. They are the things through which we perceive and are perceived- and we can’t escape them. They were our first home and they are the only home that stays with us throughout our lives no matter where end up. Our relationship to our body (our self) is the most important relationship we will ever have.

Our bodies don’t ever stop growing or changing. Even when we sit or sleep, our bodies are doing the things they need to keep us alive. Amazing. The body is a process.

Every single human has a body story and many stories include shame. The good news is this: your body is brilliant. It has thousands of years of ancestral experience in surviving and thriving. Learning to trust it might feel like a new skill, but really it’s just a beautiful, long-awaited return to self.

We may be a good fit if you find yourself:

• avoiding or limiting social interaction over worry of how you will look to others

• consistently feeling that your body is not good enough as is

• avoiding looking in the mirror

• avoiding wearing clothes that you like because you worry what others will think of you in them

• consistently trying to change your body through restrictive diet and exercise

• having experienced fatphobia or any discrimination based on how you look

I work from a Health at Every Size approach and align with the Fat Liberation movement.

We can’t survive without eating, yet food plays such a complex role in our lives. Our relationships to food are intricately constructed by our experiences and they are constantly changing. Some days, food can be a great source of shame. Other days, a source of celebration…and everything in between.

Food:

We may be a good fit if you find yourself:

• constantly thinking about food- to the point that you wonder if something is wrong if you (spoiler: there’s not)

• connecting your self-worth on any given day to what/how you ate

• in a pattern of restrictive dieting and then binging

• afraid to keep food in your home out of fear that you will find yourself ‘out of control’

• avoiding eating altogether or eating certain “good” or “bad” foods in front of others

So much is expected from us to exist in this world. Perfectionism is a very normal response to the uncertainty that exists at any given moment of our lives.

We might be a good fit if you find yourself:

• avoiding social or professional interaction out of fear that you will ‘mess up’

• fearing letting others down if you don’t perform perfectly

• feeling like the 'stakes are always high’ no matter what the task

• fearing that if you mess up, it will reflect on your value as a human

• avoiding starting something new out of fear that you will not do it well enough

Living with neurodivergence far too often means living in a world that is not designed for you. Many people have lived their whole lives feeling like there is something wrong with them. You may have been taught a narrative of “normal” behavior that you could just never quite live up to. You may feel shame about the fact that your living space is not as clean as your friends’ or struggle to read body language no matter how hard you try. You may have been a high achiever for many years, until you just sort of shut down. Nothing is wrong with you, but feeling like something is for so long can be traumatic and lead to what is called neurodivergent burnout.

We might be a good fit if you find yourself:

• masking how you or your body acts at baseline as to 'appear normal’

• feeling like you are fundamentally ‘broken’ due to your neurodivergence

• struggling to notice your emotional and/or physical needs in the moment

• struggling to accept and celebrate your brain

• constantly worrying about rejection from others

Please note that I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist. I can’t formally assess or diagnose ADHD or autism. What I can do is help you make sense of your own brain and point you in the direction of someone who can if that is what you choose.