Birth Trauma

For most women pregnancy comes with excitement and anticipation to meet your little one. For some pregnancy and birth also bring anxiety, fear and vulnerability that one is dependent on health care professionals to manage their health as well as their baby’s. Pregnancy, birth and parenting bring up emotions so similar to past trauma that it is often the catalyst for difficulty coping. During pregnancy and birth women may experience self-doubt, not wanting to offend others by stating their needs or that they are uncomfortable, feel they are suppose to trust and not question doctors, embarrassment that they don’t have control over their body ...

Justifying Self Care

Justifying Self Care For years I've noticed the need to slow down, to prioritize my own self care. Feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, distracted, forgetful and all the guilt that goes with feeling I'm not doing enough. I do a lot for others and often neglect my own needs. So I made some leaps. I put in my resignation at the agency I had committed to for the last 4 years, I found the courage to get the corrective vision surgery I have contemplated half my life, I signed a lease for a full time private practice space. All with the intention of prioritizing self care. Three weeks into my new schedule I found myself wandering, wondering. Why am I not ...

Slowing Down To Do More

Slowing Down to Do More I have a horrible problem with multitasking. When my computer takes too long I check my phone for messages. When I get dinner started I am also cleaning the kitchen, starting the laundry and thinking about notes I still have to write. Some would think that this is a great use of time, efficient. When dinner begins to burn I realize that I spread myself too thin and need to slow down. Suddenly multitasking is not working so well. This happens with us emotionally too. When we've got too much on our minds, our priorities tend to leave our attention. Our kids seeking our attent...

About

Over the last 10 years I have supported parents and families to understand what works and what doesn't work for them. I love exploring alternatives to strengthen relationships, find your voice and set boundaries that will help you feel more comfortable and ask for what you need from others. My hope is that you will learn from me as much as I learn from you. My first experiences with a therapist were not the greatest. I had a lot of practice communicating my needs and not always getting the response I needed. I learned that I deserved to feel safe and could set boundaries I was comfortable with and reinforce those boundaries to avoid overwhelm...

Trauma

Anxiety and depression are strongly correlated to experiencing trauma. Each person experiences things differently. What may be traumatic for me may not be a big deal to you. We each have a different set of coping skills that we have learned through each experience. When one is effected by trauma, anxiety is a normal response. When this anxiety continues over long periods of time, you are triggered frequently by situations similar to the traumatic event, have nightmares or intrusive thoughts during waking hours and your symptoms significantly impact your functioning Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be diagnosed. PTSD is probably best known ...