A note from Christina:

It can often feel like life is a non-stop invitation for worry; our lives are filled with responsibilities that can feel overwhelming. It can be challenging to balance the demands of school, work, and family. Maybe you’ve discovered that some of your coping methods aren’t working as well as they used to? Have you gotten to the point of which you feel like it’s time to reassess your lifestyle and make some changes? I’d be delighted to help you.

I imagine therapy as a means of deepening self knowledge and part of that is learning to recognize the messages that your body is sending you. Well-versed in the language of the body, I am skilled in facilitating the process of reintegration - learning to listen to what your body has to tell you, translating the messages from your own body, and utilizing the information of your lived somatic experience as part of your decision-making process.

My approach:

I incorporate multiple therapeutic modalities in the work that we will do together. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy engages the higher brain systems - those areas of our brains that govern rationality, judgement and decision making - and is excellent at helping us recognize thought patterns that don’t serve us well. Somatic approaches, on the other hand, engage the inner brain, allowing us to sense and communicate with our autonomic nervous system to aid in relaxing the body, which allows us to alleviate the physical symptoms of stress. Our brains are the governors of our bodies and by learning methods to communicate with our nervous systems, as well as recognizing the common patterns of anxious or depressive thoughts, we can ideally live with greater ease.

While I certainly enjoy the conversational component of therapy, it is not uncommon for sessions with me to involve some sort of movement. I completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2009, and have spent the better part of two decades on my mat. Together, we may explore postures and gestures and their emotional meaning for you. We may identify patterns of held tension and muscular armoring and experiment with some accessible yoga postures as a means of diffusing and disarming. Most of all, we will breathe. I am skilled in the use of breath and versed in mindfulness based techniques for stress reduction.

I am devoted to helping people recover from traumatic experiences. I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), a technique that allows for the resolution of the emotional charge that can accompany memories of traumatic events. If you have ever experienced a consent violation or need help in coping with the emotional aftermath of a traumatic event, I am available to meet with you to aid in your healing.

I have experience in helping a wonderful variety of people. I have worked in a court-mandated rehabilitation facility, as well as with people who take prescription medication. I am interested in helping people explore their relationship to substances and have experience in supporting people who are either quitting substance use or tapering off medications. I am interested in supporting young adults through the transition of leaving home for the first time (or of returning home later in life). I also have a wonderful time in supporting anxious young women and soon-to-be or new mothers.

If anything that you have read here resonates with you, please consider booking a consultation, so that we may see if we are a good fit for each other. I look forward to meeting you, and to learning more about you!