My Approach

If you are like me, you may have spent years in traditional talk-therapy but it didn’t seem to get you the results you really wanted. There is a reason for that! 

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Have you ever heard the saying, “the issues are in the tissues?” 

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In my experience, healing must happen through both the mind AND the body to truly feel free. 

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I have built my practice in a way that blends both “top-down” and “bottom-up” processing. 

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The “top-down” approach includes powerful cognitive work. It is important to gain awareness around our thoughts, limiting beliefs, and narratives. By practicing with tools such as The Work of Byron Katie, and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) we learn how to become the observer of our thoughts.

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This awareness is an important step.

Awareness helps us get better at pausing, noticing, and shifting what we are choosing to believe in the moment.

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Sometimes, cognitive work alone helps us learn how to shift our state, our energy, our behaviors.

However, all too often, our body hijacks our mind.

When we are “triggered” or our nervous system is activated, we can go into a fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response.

In this state, it can feel extremely challenging, if not impossible, to use those cognitive skills we learned in therapy or coaching. What we need in this moment is something different. We need “bottom-up” processing, a somatic approach, i.e. working with the body. 

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The “bottom-up” approach that I use is a blend of somatic-based coaching (i.e. learning how to read our body signals, analyzing messages from the body, and meditative practices) and my personal favorite, breathwork. 

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Breathwork expert Dan Brulé explains, 

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“Every psychological state, every emotional state, every physiological state has a corresponding or associated breathing pattern. The way we breathe when we are peaceful and calm is different than the way we breathe when we are angry and upset.

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“When your state changes, your breathing pattern changes. And it’s a two-way street: when you change your breathing pattern, you change your state! We can use the breath to hack into our nervous system, our brain, our immune system. We can use the breath to choose our state!”

 

The first time I ever experienced breathwork, I knew it was a game-changer and something that I wanted to both practice and facilitate. Breathwork has helped me release suppressed emotions, connect more deeply to myself (my truth, my creativity), soothe anxiety in my body, and feel more energized and alive. 

 

My practice allows for clients to explore both “top-down” and “bottom-up” healing as I hold a loving and gentle space for them. As client, you are in control of your healing. There is no one-size fits all. You get to choose what works for you. I am here to help you feel empowered in your healing process.