Often people process their thoughts and feelings best while in motion. The pacing of our gait activates our brains to approach difficult material from a different angle and with different energy. If making eye-contact or sitting still on a couch is intimidating or not your thing, this therapy option could be a good fit.
Traditional sit-and-talk therapy, only in the woods! Spending time in nature relieves stress and promotes well-being. Becoming more aware of our outdoor environment at a sensory level helps us feel grounded and connected and supports a feeling of belonging.
When we spend time transforming our feelings into words, we undergo a process of inquiry and acceptance that is at the heart of therapy. Whether responding to a prompt, experimenting with trauma-based poetry, working through a memoir, or simply free-writing, your words will help you heal.
With ideas, training, and inspiration rooted in Buddhist traditions of silent retreat and insight meditation, I will guide you in a personalized practice with tools you can easily transfer from our sessions to your daily life, increasing your capacity to remain aware and make intentional choices.
Narrative Therapy is a way of seeing your life as a story. It separates you from the problems you're facing, and involves creative, sometimes playful approaches to interacting with them. It's focused on your abilities, the people who are important to you, and your hopes for the future more than your diagnosis. Narrative therapists ask about the influences that have shaped your story as you have come to tell it. These questions eventually help to tell new stories that better reflect your authentic beliefs and preferences about your life.
We all heal differently, and I strive to be inclusive and responsive to each individual. Depending on your needs, we may meet each session in my office, or build a small fire together in the firepit, or even meet at the nearby ocean for a cold plunge. In every case, I hold a safe space for you.
Welcome and thanks for your interest! I am passionate about working with people to understand themselves by providing a relationship of empathy and trust. I have over 20 years' experience working with people of all ages struggling with many types of challenges, and I have worked in schools and community health centers throughout New England. I have also traveled widely, and have experience working with ESL speakers and immigrants. I hold degrees from Swarthmore College and Simmons School of Social Work, and have been a member of the National Association of Social Workers since 2008. I am also a writer and a mother of a child with a disability. I bring attention to language and a spirit of adventure to my work as a therapist.