PRACTICE FULL
(As of April 12, 2023)
Be seen. Be heard. Be held.
Imagine a place where you don't have to push your thoughts or feelings down...
or stuff them inside.
Imagine that in this place you are free to say what's on your mind or in your heart...
without having to worry about negative consequences.
Imagine that here, when you're talking with another person, they get it...
and validate your experiences.
Join me in making this space yours.
In my near decade of practicing therapy, I've yet to meet a person without a Mean Inner Critic (MIC). Our Mean Inner Critic holds us back--makes us doubt ourselves. It tells us we have to push our thoughts and feelings down (or stuff them inside) because it's dangerous to speak up. Then, it blames us for our Anxiety disorder, Depression, or angry outburst symptoms.
Even though we may want to hate on our inner critic, its job is to protect us. It didn't start out mean.
Maybe you've experienced an event or enduring condition where your ability to integrate the experience was overwhelmed by threat(s) to your life, bodily integrity, or that of a caregiver or family member.
Or maybe what you went through (or are still going through) doesn't meet the criteria for trauma, but is wounding.
It's painful. It hurt a lot. And if possible, you didn't want to experience it ever again. So without realizing the full consequences, you let your inner critic take the wheel. It promised to protect you...to keep you safe.
Turns out your inner critic belongs to the Fear family. And has an insatiable appetite. It especially loves when someone betrays your trust because it says "See, I told you so. If you had listened to me, you wouldn't have been hurt." Maybe your life is "total chaos". Maybe by societal measures you're extremely "successful". Whatever the case, the more your inner critic devours, the meaner, stronger, and louder it gets.
Until one day you realize that this safety is coming at great personal cost. It doesn't feel like you're really living... It's hard for you to open up with other people, to really trust them. Sure, you've managed to get this far, but if you're honest with yourself, you long for that deeper connection, one where you can be yourwholeself.
You don't have to keep suffering in silence. You can write yourself a better ending. When you learn how to turn down the volume on your Mean Inner Critic (MIC), and put it back in its proper place (the passenger seat), you'll make choices that are correct for you.
As your therapist, I can teach you to take back the wheel from your Mean Inner Critic, but it's on you to take the first step.
Please reach out!
My Approach
I use a trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, holistic, and strengths-based approach to help you see yourself in a new light.
With curiosity and compassion, we'll explore the memories and experiences that keep your thoughts, feelings, and actions from reflecting your favorite self. We'll keep the "golden nuggets" and help you let go of the rest so your past doesn't keep dictating your future. We'll leverage your natural gifts to take on your Mean Inner Critic, and heal your pain so you can start living life with more ease, joy and a deeper sense of meaning.
Past clients have described my style as warm, engaging, and authentic.
