Hello

I grew up without being taught how to recognize or understand my emotions. I learned unhealthy coping skills because I didn't know any better. This resulted in unhealthy coping skills of perfectionism, cleaning obsessively, and allowing fear and anxiety to run my life. I had very little control over myself growing up. I was taught the “right way” and “only way” to do things, I was always told what to do, who to be friends with, to constantly push myself to perfection, and never feel my emotions. I honestly thought my life was great. I was a high achieving kid, growing into a high achieving adult. I graduated high school with high honors and graduated undergrad and graduate school with a dazzling GPA most people strive for. I got a job right out of college and thought my life was on track. However, I quickly felt unfulfilled and lost. I no longer had distractions or goals to work towards. I didn’t know what I liked or how to make myself happy without school or work. I was in a toxic relationship and lost all my friends. I took to unhealthy coping skills of cycling through binge and restrictive eating, overworking myself in the gym, numbing my feelings with drugs and alcohol, and obsessive cleaning. I had no idea how to understand myself and my needs.

Then, I found the practice of mindfulness. With this, I began learning how to listen to my thoughts and feelings. I started going to therapy and exploring to understand my authentic self. I began making connections to my thoughts and feelings, and ultimately began recognizing my needs and direction in life. Through processing and trauma therapy, I began healing from my past and creating my future. My inner child became my guide for the person I wanted to be as an adult. I began trusting this information and gained the confidence, through practice, with standing up and advocating for myself. I left my abusive partner, quit my job, and began working towards building my private practice. With all this empowerment, I gained a loving partner that supports me, friends I can trust and build me up, and boundaries within my personal life that allow happiness and confidence to fill my heart and body. I can confidently say now, that I am clean of toxic people and habits. I am able to feel my feelings as they come without shame or judgement, understand my needs from them, and actively take steps to achieve my truest happiness.