Do your emotions feel overwhelming? Worry that you will never be able to handle them? Ever notice that you have trouble being in your body because it is so uncomfortable? Having trouble showing up for yourself when you really need to? Are your closest relationships frustrating? Struggling to feel like yourself around others? Feeling anxious, not fully knowing why? Maybe your thoughts are constantly pulled away from the present, and you have trouble concentrating? Yeses to a few of these questions could be related to complex trauma (repeated exposure to highly stressful events), and relief and progress can come from our work together.Mental wellness and recovery through Intention Path Counseling looks like understanding what happened, how it feels in your body and what to do about it in the present. Understanding what may be making this more aligned space complicated and/or difficult is essential too. How do we do this? Early work increases your knowledge and awareness. Then, knowing your values and preferences, we can sort out what is not working. These unhelpful patterns can be related to complex trauma. Authentic healing is then possible using this clarity and deeper work to access your path to what it is that you want. I usually serve you best as a guide to yourself and what you hope to gain from your life. Feeling capable and clear on your path is so important because most likely, you spent some time feeling helpless and trapped with people and in circumstances that did not work for you. Maybe you even thought it was your fault. If we compare these people and places to locks, we want to find you the keys-not leave you where there are just more locks holding you back. Message to clientsI was probably sitting in my office nook during a telehealth session when a client asked me if I thought CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) was gaslighting yourself. I don't think that's exactly true, but it really made me stop and think. It is essential to understand thoughts, feelings and behaviors, what they are and how they all work together. I also think we can move beyond that. I first started looking into more effective approaches when having a client make a list of all fearful circumstances and asking her to slowly expose herself to them did not help very much. That list was never going to be comprehensive enough, and she was actually too scared to do this. I continued to learn that one size does not fit all. And, I now understand that you will heal best from within with help. I think that may be one of the most important things for you to know about me-I am going to show up with experience starting in 2005 but humble and aiming to be as effective as possible. I am a life-long learner and think outside of the box. I take your mental wellness very seriously and am going to make my best effort to help you in a way that works for you. I am always hungry for knowledge and effective approaches but also respect your values, connection to yourself and the goals and objectives that you have communicated for our work together.