If we can lend an ear to: Truly listen, gain understanding, and perspective our world would be filled with compassion rather than hate.

Hate is fueled by misunderstanding. Hate is an emotion stemming from fear. Rather than fearing the unknown— let’s face it together. Open ourselves up to another person; hear their perspective. We do not need to agree with everyone on everything. Having the ability to respect another’s view (as their intentions speak to their directive). Actively listening to another’s viewpoint does not mean you need to change your perspective, just that you have opened yourself up to information and a connection with another person. Connection then fuels compassion.

Mental health holds a great deal of stigma, judgement, and labels. Today symbolizes another step forward to change this understanding; a step towards compassion, empathy, and humanization. So many individuals are touched by mental health, personally or by a loved one.

Mental health is a topic very near my heart as it has affected several loved ones at different points in their lives, and my professional life each and every day.

Mental health is something that alters how individuals are impacted and see the world. It is something that showcases strength and vulnerability; something that I admire!

Today starts the conversation– connect with another person, be open, listen, and be present!
#BellLetsTalk #MentalHealthAwareness

Your Felt Sense—is an ideal adopted from the work of– Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma, by Peter Levine (1997). This is a physical experience (not mental). A full bodily awareness of a situation, or person, or event. An internal aura that encompasses everything you feel and know about the given subject at a given time—encompasses it and communicates it to you all at once rather than detail by detail.

This ideal tells us where you are and how you feel at any given moment. It is relaying the overall experience of the organism, rather than interpreting what is happening from the standpoint of the individual parts.

Your Felt Sense is the action of being. Finding what is occurring surrounding you and for the first time paying attention without trying to interpret, analyze, or explain what is happening; by just experiencing and noting it. Taking it all as it comes. By taking in the experience and the moment; This will challenge your thinking and reaction. A challenge worth battling.

“When you find yourself struggling with trust [or others]; step one is to examine how you treat yourself.” -Brene Brown

Putting yourself down, second, or last is long lasting on your well-being. The tag word of ‘Self-Care’ can feel overwhelming, not-valid, or not worthwhile. We need to reinvent the idea of ‘Self-Care’ and view it as something that is needed (as much as our bodies need food and water), as it is truly not optional.

Our bodies need to be loved by ourselves! The trick is finding something that you can add into your daily routine that will add benefit to each day. This could be as simple as saying “Good Morning” to yourself in the mirror and smiling, sipping your morning coffee/tea, going for a brief walk, taking a few extra long breaths before responding, taking a break from your phone, or writing your thoughts down. I feel the key is to take a continuous inventory of what you’re doing for yourself each day, and ensuring this action is adding value rather than taking something from you.

What ‘Self-Care’ value/action will you add to your daily routine?

The value of being trusted is one of the most empowering traits to have with yourself and others. Trust is such a simple ideal but is so challenging to put into action, it forces you to be vulnerable. Trust relates to confidence, strength, and ability within yourself.

There are many age-old sayings that address trust; ‘you must earn someone’s trust-it is not simply given’, ‘once you lose it you-must work at getting it back’… What about learning to trust yourself. Rather than building your identify around relationships with other individuals, build yourself up with trust! Do you trust yourself?

How will you go about building trust within yourself today?—allowing myself to try something new, free of judgement and expectations on how I preform.

I firmly believe it starts by calling attention to our own negative cognition’s about ourselves. We need to become accountable for our thoughts, judgments, and biases.

“First, to have compassion for others you must notice that they are suffering. If you ignore that homeless person on the street, you can’t feel compassion for how difficult his or her experience is. Second, compassion involves feeling moved by others’ suffering so that your heart responds to their pain (the word compassion literally means to “suffer with”). When this occurs, you feel warmth, caring, and the desire to help the suffering person in some way. Having compassion also means that you offer understanding and kindness to others when they fail or make mistakes, rather than judging them harshly. Finally, when you feel compassion for another (rather than mere pity), it means that you realize that suffering, failure, and imperfection is part of the shared human experience. “- Dr. Kristin Neff

Walking forward today—what can you do to address compassion within yourself?

“Time heals all wounds”– this saying challenges me. I neither agree or disagree with it. I believe it has value with certain wounds but not in others. Time does not heal grief. Time changes it. Time allows you to process it (with hard work and effort). 

Is not a celebration of end of life. It is the beginning of starting something new. The new way you carry that person with you, new way you hold their strength, a new way of holding their beauty.

Death is often looked to as the completion to ones story, it more than that. I look at death as a heart-breaking event that changes your story and path. Grief is this change— it’s adapting how you look at death and processing it.
This is not not an easy thing to accomplish. It takes time, support, and openness.

My office is a warm welcoming environment. You will be greeted by a friendly receptionist staff and will wait briefly in the waiting room area. There are some cold and warm beverages you would be welcome to enjoy as you wait and throughout the session.

You will experience an open approach from someone who is invested in your goals. The term “goals” can feel overwhelming or feel pressure induced…do not to feel deterred though. We will work together to identify next steps and different goals you’re wanting to accomplish.

The experience will be what you are wanting it to be. Together, your treatment plan will be developed.

Different techniques may be used from music, meditation, breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, clinical theories, and other approaches.

What you discuss during your therapy session is kept confidential. No contents of the therapy sessions, whether verbal or written may be shared with another party without your written consent or the written consent of your legal guardian.

The following is a list of exceptions to the confidentiality policy:

• Under subpoena from a court of law
• Duty to Warn and Protect – If you disclose, or we find out there is a risk to harm yourself, the therapist must attempt to notify your family and notify legal authorities. In addition, if you disclose, or we find out there is a risk for you to harm another person, the therapist is required to warn the possible victim and notify legal authorities.
• Abuse of Children and Vulnerable Adults – If you disclose, or it is suspected, that there is abuse or harmful neglect of children or vulnerable adults (i.e. the elderly, disabled/incompetent), the therapist must report this information to the appropriate agency and/or legal authorities.

All other questions please contact me directly

You will not be asked to sign any contract. At the end of each session you always have the choice to book again, take a break, or leave it to see what the next step should be for you.