Hello! Thanks for visiting my very first blog post.
Before I started my private practice this year, and built my first website, I'd pretty much stayed off of public social media for a variety of reasons, so this is pretty weird for me.
I remember when people started to blog, years ago, I thought about starting one as practice for writing a book (...I'm still not there yet), but then I read a post called "Don't Start a Blog", realized I don't follow many blogs, myself, I didn't know much about it, it seemed complicated, fellow therapists weren't doing it, and I was very busy balancing my work and career, so I put the idea away.
But I have several good reasons for doing this now, and the main one is so you all can get to know me a little, if you like, and be more informed about the work I do, as a therapist who specalizes in attachment parenting and trauma work. I can imagine that if you're reading this you probably are curious about that. I know that potential new clients visit my site, but so do people I meet, other therapists, parents, caregivers, and those interested in self care, from all over the world! It's really exciting!
I've been in the field now for about 16 years, so I have a professional network (oh...that reminds me...I need to update my Linked In), clients sometimes refer their friends, and I'm listed in various provider directories, but for those who need help and don't know how to find it...who feel alone and don't know where to turn...how in the WORLD are they supposed to know I'M here to help? It's litterally just me now, in my practice. If you call, you call ME. If you e-mail, you e-mail ME. There's no agency, no administrative assistants, no go between anymore. It's truly person centered work, from beginning to end! (It's pretty awesome, really.)
Well, I know they won't if I'm not Googleable or on Instagram or Facebook or ...Snapchat or Twitter (!!!So many platforms!!!). I figure that if I blog I can post links to the blog all over social media (once I get the hang of it). And if I post helpful things (like lists of favorite books! <3) they'll get shared and more people will be able to find the help they need, whether or not they work with me in person.
I am not a tech geek. Full disclosure: I have a high school certificate in Visual Communications (from the 90's) but dropped out of graphic design school to go back into fine art (then art therapy, then counseling psych, then play therapy...).
While I love art, I love the process more, the messiness, the "why" behind the art, the conceptualization, the expression of the mind, even more than that. It's quite etherial, really, the mind. We can't see it. We sense it. We feel it. It's reflected in our work and relationships.
I often help people have a reparative experience after they've been terribly hurt. To get to know themselves more deeply, to learn to trust themselves and others again, and decide how and with whom they want to share themselves with. That's what I love spending my time doing. Everyone's process is so beautifully different.
I know that for someone to feel safe enough to do this deep work, they need to know some things about the person even before they choose to work with them...to be able to feel their vibe, so they're no longer a stranger.
So I'm stepping up! I don't want to be a stranger. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but that's ok. You can see if I'm YOUR cup of tea!
So, let's just see how this goes. I'll write about some things sometimes. Feel free to let me know what you'd like to know more about and I'll do my best.
(totally stock photos...thanks, Unsplash)