Strengths Based Specializations

We have formative experiences with our first family and caregivers, which often shape our relationship to others and ourselves. Our own identity is an evolution throughout the life cycle, and different aspects manifest, become murky, or are rediscovered as we grow. Understanding how your history, values, and incomparable persona intersect, can lead to rich and rewarding metamorphosis.   

You may have a general sense that you are more reactive, preoccupied, or anguished around people than you would like to be. You may be deeply attached to someone dear to you, and feel you are watching helplessly as your relationship changes, ends, or becomes unknowable. Our connection to others and the acuity of our isolation, are central to the meaning we make of our lives, including our capacity for security and joy. By noticing and engaging with what feels out of balance, we can gain access to alternative ways to be with others and encounter fulfillment.

 Great transitions occur suddenly and gradually. They can be brought about by experiences with the world (falling in or out of love, challenging work encounters, travel and education, experiencing a trauma, a change in health, or loss). Transitions can also arise through internal shifts like new awareness, or changes in our physical, emotional, or energetic sensations. Developing an ability to navigate a major life transition with grace equips you with skills and tenacity for what is happening, and what is yet to come. 

We are living in a times of radical shifts. You may feel swept up in it all, or swept behind. It might be violence in the world, it might be suffering you see. It might be new ideas and ways of living that give you a feeling that the world no longer sees you (or never saw you).  Your relationship to this change is dynamic, and you can work with your discomfort, anticipation, excitement, and even deep confusion, finding healthy ways to join, engage, or unhook, with the great forces around us.  

We are all likely to experience a physical, mental, or sensory impairment as the result of living long enough, and most of us will experience more than just one. Losing your ability to move through the world the way you once did can be a devastation. Just like any significant loss, finding a new way to exist can be a challenge, and it is entirely part of the process to feel confused, stuck, or in grief. A compassionate and skillful therapist can help create a sense of safety as you reassemble your pieces and gain new mastery.

Caregivers are a special kind, whether you rose up to meet the needs of others or it was a calling all your life. In recent years more of our society has started to grasp the profound debt we owe our caregivers, whom we cannot function without — but we have a way to go. Yet even the deepest gratitude is not a singularly sustaining resource, and every one of us needs ways to replenish and restore in order to continue to thrive. If you are feeling depleted and unsure how to keep it up, therapy can be a gentle and loving way to give back to yourself.