I believe in tearing down the status quo and dismantling our oppressive culture by creating interdependent relationships that promote autonomy and growth.
This work of tearing down and dismantling is both an internal and external process.
My training in family systems during graduate school and in universal systems (micro and macro) in undergraduate school, instilled deep within me the understanding of how, while we are all unique individuals, we are also part of, contributors to, and victims of our current oppressive, white-supremist, capitalist, patriarchal society.
What this means, is in my work I help shed light on the interconnections and intersections of our own lived experience, how the experiences of our ancestors have been passed down to us, and how the society we live in impacts who and how we are in the world.
Education and Training
I received my Bachelor of Science in Physics from Seattle University in 1998 and my Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Saybrook University in 2015. I interned and am externed at The Healing Center, a family grief support center, working with children, teens and adults for over three years. I worked as a licensed marriage and family therapist associate (LMFTA) in the state of Washington for over five years prior to deciding to to not renew my licensure for a variety of professional and personal reasons. I currently utilize all my training and experience to work with clients as a Trauma Support Practioner and therapist.
Within and outside of my formal education I have intensely studied:
family, communal and cultural systems
child and human emotional development
human life span development
trauma (developmental, relational, attachment, inter-generational/ancestral, & collective) and crisis
life transitions (marriage, birth of child, divorce, death of partner, aging)
attachment theory
feminist theory
personal individual impacts of patriarchal culture
women’s history
mindfulness
brain development/neuroscience
Jungian archetypes
mother-daughter relationships
body-mind-spirit connections
the grief process (specifically Worden’s Tasks of Grief)
Internal Family Systems
somatic healing
and more
I find family relationships (ancestral and present day) and the human mind-body-spirit connection to be fascinating and enjoy exploring the who, whats and whys of how we all tick.
Autonomy + Interdependence = How we thrive as humans
I deeply believe the way to being connected to and integrated within our Core Self is by:
being self-reflective and analytical
connecting to our embodied emotions and physical sensations, both uncomfortable and pleasurable as well as our innate wisdom and knowing (intuition)
having clear boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others
understanding the interconnection of all peoples, living and dead
being part of the change to bring justice, peace, and thriving for all living beings
The more truly autonomous we become the more aware we become of the social injustices outside of our own lived experience. Part of our own individual healing process is to become active in the work for social justice in ways that are deeply personal and motivating for us based on our own lived experience.
Trauma – Acute and chronic lived events, inter-generational, and cultural relational
Trauma impacts all of us. All of us carry within us the traumas of our ancestors (intergenerational trauma) passed down to us through our DNA (thank you epigenetics for scientifically finding this). Additionally, each of us is traumatized (and constantly retraumatized) by western, capitalist, white-supremist, patriarchal society, to varying degrees (depending on skin color, perceived gender, gender identity, sexual preferences, religion, heritage, socio-economic status, education (or perceived education) level, body and mind abilities, etc).
Most of us also have experienced acute or chronic traumatic events in our lives. These could be physical or sexual abuse or assault, rape, psychological abuse (gas lighting, shaming), surgeries, car accidents, being attacked by a dog or wild animal, bicycle accidents, traumatic childbirth experiences (either as the one being born or as the mother giving birth), most often neglect (emotional and or physical).
Generally speaking, most therapists who work with trauma only focus on acute or chronic lived experiences, and do not treat, or even acknowledge the existence of, inter-generational or cultural relational trauma.
Yet all these types of trauma are deeply and tightly interwoven, and having one type of trauma affects our ability to process other types of trauma.
The good news is, I have found, that we actually don’t need to treat each type of trauma entirely separately. For example, when processing inter-generational trauma, cultural relational trauma and acute or chronic lived events trauma also process and heal. And, truth be told, we can’t actually focus on one type of trauma only, because as we process one, memories (be they visual, auditory, felt sense or other) may come forward and ask to be processed too.
Individual work
I deeply believe in community as one of the best ways for most people to process grief, trauma, and life transitions, and part of this community connection can include individual work with a therapist. I offer a limited number of individual sessions (weekly and bi-weekly) for those who are interested in changing their relational dynamics. If you’d like to explore working with me individually, you can learn more here.
Learn more
My work is ever evolving and changing. You can see how it evolves by subscribing to this newletter. Every week I will offer an essay (usually one previously published elsewhere) and ways to work with for all subscribers. Paid subscribers all have access to the full post archive, content from past online groups I have facilitated, and receive new never before published essays from me before they are made accessible to the public.
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I look forward to connecting with you soon.
In rebellious solidarity,
xoox
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