I love being a therapist. I’ve known for longer than I care to admit that offering people support, care, and unconditional positive regard was undoubtedly the correct vocation for me, and even when it has been hard, I’ve never wanted to leave it. That said, I both love it and have seen drawbacks in the traditional therapy model. I have wanted sessions to be longer; I have wanted more variety in scenery; I have wanted to give my clients more than the weekly one-hour structur

Trigger Warning: Some discussion of war and abuse If there's one thing you'll gather from reading this blog long enough, it's that I love, LOVE music, and especially Musical Theater. My husband's joke is that I could be a Jeopardy-level history scholar if they Hamilton -ed most other major historical events. He's not wrong. Naturally, when I heard about Epic, the musical telling of The Odyssey by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, I knew I had to listen to it. And it delivers. The music

Sequalitchew Creek Trail holds a special place in my heart because it is close to me. It is the trail I use the absolute most when I want to escape to nature but don't have a lot of time (and I am not alone: this trail is decently trafficked by locals). Tucked just between the Fire Station and the City Building in Dupont, WA, you will find the Sequalitchew Creek Trailhead. It is easy to miss, because you have to pass through suburbia to get there. However, once you do, it is

Overwhelmed? Understandable. Demands for our time, focus, and energy are constantly increasing, and it's easy to get pulled beneath the waves. Wanna know some of the culprits keeping you under? 🚫Hyperfocus on doing every task perfectly 🚫Shaming yourself for not doing the task sooner / better 🚫Questioning what's wrong with yourself for not being able to get started on things that need to get done 🚫Believing you're the only one struggling to get things done These are though

Recently, someone told me that Father’s Day was the most overlooked holiday in America. That statement got me thinking… is it? Are fathers really overlooked, either on their holiday or in general? Full disclosure: I have never been a father. I don’t see the content that is sent to male-identifying individuals with children, and I don’t clock a lot of conversations or jokes about dads. I have, however, worked with and spoken with many, as clients, friends, and, of course, fami

Our world has seen no shortage of trauma. Some estimates show that 70% of Americans will experience trauma in their lifetime. But what is “Trauma”? It may seem like a silly question, but many people experience trauma and either minimize it (“that wasn’t ‘trauma’...) or simply question whether it was (“does that count?”). The simplest definition of trauma is any deeply distressing or overwhelming event that devastates your sense of safety, impacting your physical, mental, and

Somebody asked me once what anxiety felt like. The textbook description is that anxiety feels like dread or impending doom, accompanied by physical symptoms such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, feeling weak, or difficulty sleeping. Sound familiar? I find that definition helpful, to be sure, but it is impersonal. My brain lives in metaphors and visuals. For me, anxiety feels like a corkscrew in my chest, spinning and tightening with every thought c

*Disclaimer: This post may be useful for those experiencing mild to moderate depression. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, this is not an adequate substitute for individual therapy from a licensed professional, for calling 9-8-8 (the suicide hotline), or 9-1-1 if you fear you are in danger of harming yourself. Please keep yourself safe. TL;DR: Depression is a natural part of the human experience—a logical response to stimuli. The more we avoid sitting with it and tal

As a neurospicy person, I am frequently under- or over-stimulated. I am either bored and craving novelty and BIG fun, or, when I have found the big fun, I need earplugs, a place to quietly regulate, or, ideally, a deprivation tank after the event. There is not a lot of in-between. Except, of course, in nature. One of the reasons I enjoy being outside so much is that I've found nature to be the perfect amount of stimulating. There is enough diversity of sights and sounds to k

I thought I knew burnout. At one point in my life, I was working three jobs while taking enough college credits to qualify as double-full-time. I’ve worked in community mental health and in an adolescent inpatient facility. For years, I’ve run my private practice completely solo—no biller, no administrative assistant—all while being the primary parent to my children. It turns out, even all of that had not produced true burnout. How do I know? Because last year, I really hit t

When was the last time you let yourself feel proud of you? It's a parenting hack I've read a lot lately: "Before you tell your kids that you're proud of them, ask if they are proud of themselves to build an internal sense of validation." However, what I'm not reading a lot of is the adult life hack: "Ask yourself if you are proud of your work to reinforce an internal sense of validation." When you put effort into something, even if it doesn't pan out exactly the way you wante

Little Mashel Falls- Bud Blanchard Trail Eatonville, WA How much do you know about Pokémon? I only remember the original 150, myself. Did you know that some Pokémon have different abilities and strengths, depending on the region they are from? This is especially true for those from the Alolan region, apparently. I learned all of this (and more!) on the hike to Little Mashel Falls with my eight-year-old son. Almost five miles in and back, Little Mashel Falls via the Bud Blanch

Cherry Creek Falls Trailhead Duvall, WA The best part of my job is getting to go out and explore. Not only do I enjoy being outside, but it is imperative to me to be knowledgeable about the trails in Western Washington so that I have an idea of which hike will be most appropriate for each individual coming into an intensive with me. Whether clients have differences in physical abilities or stamina, or hold particular concerns or phobias (heights, anyone?), I strive to find th

Imagine this: you’ve been with your therapist for approximately 47 minutes. It has been a decent session, you have discussed your week and some of your more manageable struggles, and even discussed strategies to practice addressing them this week. You finally feel comfortable. That comfort emboldens you to disclose something deeper, more personal. You can’t hold it in any longer, so you share this deeply meaningful, perhaps wounded part of yourself with your therapist. For ap

Fun fact about me: Sometimes I get lost on purpose. Our family has moved five times in twelve years, and reliably, when I find myself in a new city, I turn off my map and just drive. It started out as curiosity: “I wonder where this road goes.” Over time, I realized that this process stems from my desire to learn new routes, to uncover fun stores, sites, or restaurants that I would have otherwise missed, and to gain a sense of comfort with and understanding of my locality. N

How often do you discuss your needs with your partner? How about your values? We need more than air, food, and water. We need compassion, understanding, trust, communication, creativity, passion... the list could go on and on. Those needs also tell us about and correlate to our values: openness, privacy, loyalty, security, dignity, family, justice, peace, etc. ✨️Our needs and values are constantly interacting with our partner's✨️ We often feel compelled to meet our needs with

Chances are you’ve heard of Imposter Syndrome- you know, that feeling that people are somehow misinformed when they tell you how great you are? It might look or sound like this: *“They think I’m great, if only they knew…” *"That wasn’t really me, I just got lucky” *“Yea, but I had to work 5x’s harder to get here than anyone else would’ve…” *Fear of failing and the shame that accompanies it *Fear of succeeding and the increased responsibilities that may come with promotion (be

Happy Monday! This is your weekly reminder to take a few moments to slow down and breathe. Watch a clock, inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 3 seconds, and exhale for 5 seconds. Repeat 3-5 times, and (this part is important!) remind yourself that you've got this. Now, go take on the week! 🙌 #mentalhealthmatters #breathe #lego #humor #feelgood #therapy #mentalhealthmemes #counselingrocks

In case you weren't sure, here's your reminder: you are a unique and important being. Sometimes, we hear this as a sing-song platitude: "You're such a beautiful, special flower in life's garden!" And that enables us to brush off the message. Real talk: You ARE a beautiful, special flower, and you have something real and meaningful to contribute to this world. Hold space for that today. 🌻🌺🪻 Bonus points if you read this in a Clone Trooper's voice #therapy #mentalhealthmatte

Do you ever feel like no one gets you? We are CONSTANTLY communicating with others via text, voice, email, X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, IG, Threads, TikTok, etc; yet we rarely feel seen, heard, understood. That looks a lot like smiling and telling the cashier we're "good," even if we were crying in the car before we hit the grocery store. That looks like telling our partner or family member we're "fine" even when they've hurt us. That looks like sending reels and