Psychotherapy
Getting started in therapy can be overwhelming. You've probably been struggling for a while, thinking everything would be fine in a few days... next week... next month... Making the decision to reach out to a therapist is a big first step!
Take a moment to acknowledge your bravery. I’m glad you’re here.
I offer trauma-informed psychotherapy for individual adults and approach our time together with the desire to connect with you and help you have a new and safe experience with emotion. Why therapy? It may feel indulgent to pay someone to talk to. Maybe it seems like too much of a time commitment with everything else that's going on. Can't I just talk to my friends? Partner? Collaborating with a therapist offers much more than unloading on a friend or family member. For one thing, it's all about you. My focus is accepting you as you are - and processing your emotions, past issues, and present concerns, hopes and wishes in a safe and connected relationship.
Above everything else, therapy is about the relationship. In fact, the quality of the relationship between the therapist and client predict the most successful outcomes. I approach my clients with unconditional positive regard, quickly establishing a sense of trust and safety. We will collaborate, laugh, cry, and grow together. We'll find your strengths, and use the resources you develop to resolve what you're struggling with.
Specialities
Anxiety
You know the feeling - heart racing, chest pounding, mind going a mile a minute. It happened a few times and you thought “no big deal.” But it’s happening more, and in places like the car on the drive to work, in a meeting, while you’re teaching a class. Or you have a constant buzzing in your head. Your thoughts race from one topic to the next, and you feel like you can’t get anything done. You’re constantly distracted and depleted. You can’t remember the next thing you’re supposed to do, and your to-do list is piling up. Maybe you’ve tried some relaxation techniques on your own, or tried a few “Self-Care Sundays.” But it’s not working. We’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on in a holistic way. You’ll learn coping strategies while we look deeper at what may be at the core of the issue.
Sensory Processing Sensitivity & Neurodiversity
Have you been diagnosed with ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, Giftedness, Specific Learning Disorder, or another neurodivergence? Are you easily overwhelmed by such things as bright lights, strong smells, coarse fabrics, or sirens nearby? Do you get rattled when you have a lot to do in a short amount of time? Do you need to withdraw during busy days, into bed or a darkened room or some other place where you can have privacy and relief from the situation? When you were a child, did your parents or teachers see you as sensitive or shy? We’ll slow down together and take time to understand your individual experience, process what it’s like to experience life with a brain that works this way, and celebrate the strengths our neurospicy brains hold.
Overachievers
Things need to be a certain way. But there’s never enough time to do all that’s necessary. Or there’s a sense that you’re always looking to the next thing - life stage, project, achievement - and then that’s when you’ll feel less stressed and okay. Maybe you’ve been praised your whole life for being so smart, so capable, so able to “do it all” - all the while feeling like an impostor or that something is missing. Like you’re not even sure why you’re doing all you’re doing. I get it, and have been there, too. We will slow down together to understand what’s happening and make space for your core self to emerge.
No matter how traumatic our histories, we are not just bundles of pathology. Lodged deep within us are dispositions for healing and self-righting, there for the awakening.
-Diana Fosha, Ph.D