Where It Started
I was lucky enough to find out what I want to do as a career choice very early on in life. At merely 15, I found out I wanted to become a therapist, because I needed to understand our human nature and become the person who can hold that sacred space for people to reflect on themselves and guide them through changes.
I understood early on that this is a continuous professional development track, and ever since I picked up my first book on psychology, I discovered that my need for learning and understanding our human nature is unwavering.
It was difficult for me to imagine my future back then, but even when I couldn’t see where I would end up, I knew that this path is the one I keep turning to, and on the edge of turning 40 this August, I’m looking back to the 15 year old me with so much awe and appreciation.
The bet I made back then on myself is nothing short of crazy, as I signed up for only one program at my University, and didn’t even consider back then a backup plan in case I wouldn’t pass my admissions exam. Becoming a therapist was what I wanted and passing that exam with a perfect 10 was incredible for me. The years that followed were not as stellar as I had many challenges to overcome in finishing my studies, but the drive to keep going until I make it has been an ebbing constant.
What I Learned From My Own Recovery
Living with a history of trauma has given me a lot of work as it often felt like I am trying to become an olympic champion while all odds were stacked against me. Discovering I had always struggled with ADHD on top of my rich trauma history was very recent and the puzzle pieces fell into place once I understood that all my struggles had very solid reasons and little to do with my ability.
As luck has it, our professional training involves constantly working on ourselves, so this dual approach to my professional development has shaped the therapist I am today. From my clinical background I learned to take mental health struggles seriously. From my trauma education I learned to look beyond a set of symptoms and a label of diagnosis and become curious about what is conducive to the struggle in the first place. My own traumatic history helped me better understand the state of our nervous system and the survival mechanisms that come to provide adaptation and shelter for our wounded psyche. In my coaching training I began looking for answers to the incessant “whys” and “hows” that I often found both myself and my clients looping, as the depth of transformation doesn’t come from insight alone, but also from strategies that help us move towards who we actually want to be.
I started my own practice because I needed access to support in an important moment of struggle, while being on a waiting list for much needed therapy. And while I don’t run an emergency service, my company celebrated turning 15 this year because the need for therapeutic support is real and my craft is bringing people results faster than the mental healthcare system can address their concerns.
For the past couple of years, every training, every methodology and every working modality I experienced in training, I first applied to myself and then brought it into my work. Year after year, I have seen how people move through therapeutic and coaching processes and I gained enough evidence of my impact that I’m now working on creating my own framework in addressing psychological trauma recovery.
Sitting at the intersection of psychology and coaching, the transformational arch I create for my clients is grounded in clinical knowledge, trauma educated, embodied insights that help regulate the nervous system and coaching techniques that help people move towards building the life they envision for themselves.
On the edge of turning 40 myself, I’m constantly learning by applying everything I invite my clients to experiment with, and I keep adjusting as I go. So far, what I have learned is that our need to reflect and understand ourselves is part of our human nature. The necessity to do this in a safe and supported relationship is the foundation of any relationship I enter through my work. And that the outcome of a good process is rooted in embodying the changes your mind is contemplating, and supported by a nervous system that learned how to recover from life’s challenges.
Building Empowerment from Within
In the profound process of looking at our past to better understand what trauma did to us, what our survival mechanisms did for us, and what our body is still holding on to, is what makes the work feel at times like an archeological site. Down in the trenches where there’s a lot of work to unearth buried memories, long lost hope and beautiful resources is where the process begins. We look at the history we each carry in order to understand where did autonomy go, when did we begin living out of sync with our inner compass, who shaped it and why. We filter through the artifacts and I support my clients to be autonomous co-creators in their recovery journey because they are the only people who can know and decide for themselves.
My business slogan is “Empowerment from Within”, as I genuinely believe we have the right to reclaim that power that so often trauma stole from us. Once the archeological site has been mapped out, and artefacts have been filtered, we move onto becoming the architects of our own future. Sometimes we might need to revisit some lessons, sometimes we might need to overcome a blockage or obstacle from the archeological grounds, but as far as being able to forge a new future, I haven’t met anyone who isn’t capable of it. Especially given the right environment and support to do so.
My clients are brave people who come into therapy despite their anxiety, and stay working on themselves despite despair. In the intimate space that is created between a client and their therapist, having that support to dig, get dirty and then keep learning how to move towards a better life, I can only be the one who receives what my client brings and contributes with my knowledge, skills and my presence to assist their process. I follow their needs, I help them reflect and discern, I support them when doubtful and I encourage them when the mirror is foggy. Sharing what the latest training in my field is teaching me is the way I support their efforts, as this process of transformation is never a solo quest.
Sometimes we work individually, sometimes in groups and at times we even come together in retreats where the work gets done most intensively. As this new chapter is opening up for me, I aim to provide yet another brick that lays at the foundation of any therapeutic process. Creating my own community of psychoeducation where people can learn about themselves and each other is what’s moving me forward.
What’s Next
This month, alongside turning 40, another milestone quietly arrives too. This website is live. It’s been long in the making because I wanted it to hold the same care I try to bring into a therapy room. Every page here is meant to be an extension of that same space, somewhere you can get a feel for how I work and who I am before you ever sit across from me.
I hope that in this next chapter, the insights we uncover together are meaningful, that the strategies we co-create are the perfect fit for each other’s needs and that the embodied reality of who we are, is grounded in knowledge and experiences which are long lasting.
If any part of what I’ve shared here resonates with you, I’d love for you to stay close to what’s unfolding next. You’re welcome to explore the rest of this website and get a fuller sense of my work, sign up for my weekly newsletter where I share reflections and psychoeducation to your inbox, or if you’re curious whether we might be a good fit to work together, book a free discovery call. Whichever door you choose, I’m glad you found your way here.