A curious look at the harder parts of being human
Essays on emotional growth, relationships, repair, grief,
identity, and the complicated work of being human.
Why "You Suck Right Now" Isn't the Whole Story
There's a moment most of us know: someone we love does the thing again, and something in us goes flat and certain — you suck right now. Underneath that verdict is usually something quieter: an unmet need we haven't said out loud. Here's how to move from reactive blame to what's actually true.
What Your Ambivalence Is Trying to Tell You
Ever feel torn between two things you want, in equal measure? Maybe you want to stay in a relationship and want to leave it. Maybe you want to quit drinking and aren't sure how to live without it. Ambivalence isn't a sign that something's wrong with you — it's often a sign that two real parts of you are holding two different loyalties. This post explores what inner conflict is actually made of, why we're so quick to escape it, and what becomes possible when we learn to sit with it instead.
Carrying What Isn't Yours: Understanding Enmeshment and Anxiety
Chronic, low-grade anxiety often isn't a malfunction— it's a signal. Learn what enmeshment is, how it forms between parent and child, and why differentiation may be the missing piece in understanding your anxiety.
When No One Wants to Hear You: On Ego, Growth, and Parenting Teenagers Through the Hard Years
Why don't people want to hear the truth? Often, it's not about the truth at all. It's about the ego — theirs, ours, and everything we're both protecting. A reflection on what gets in the way of being truly known, and what it costs us when we stop trying.
The Hidden Gifts of Being an Outsider
What if feeling like an outsider wasn’t only something to overcome—but also something to learn from? While not belonging is uncomfortable, it can also cultivate curiosity, humility, and a wider perspective on life. This piece explores the unexpected gifts that come from standing outside the norm.
Real Love is Endurance
Real love often asks for more than just passion or chemistry—it asks for endurance. Love will ask more of you than you expect. It will challenge your patterns, expose your wounds, and confront the ways you both hold on and pull away. The question isn’t just whether love will last—but whether you can stay present enough to grow within it.
Why Real Relationships Require Repair
Conflict and rupture are not signs of failure—they are bumps on the road to real relating. When someone hurts us, or when we misunderstand one another,
Living Beyond the Stories That Keep You Stuck
The stories we tell ourselves shape how we experience the world. Trauma, past experiences, and unexamined beliefs can limit our growth. Psychodynamic therapy helps identify these narratives, distinguish story from reality, and create space for more life-affirming ways of being.
Listening to Our Inner Child: Navigating Emotions in a Complex World
Life isn’t fair—but ignoring our emotions doesn’t make it easier. From childhood lessons to adult challenges, unexpressed feelings can linger, shaping how we respond to grief, frustration, and loss. By listening to the inner child within us, acknowledging our emotions, and creating space to feel, we learn to navigate life with greater self-awareness, resilience, and connection. This work isn’t about reasoning away pain—it’s about giving it room to be heard.
Take Back Your Power By Using Curiosity to Meet Anxiety and Discomfort
The COVID pandemic pause offered a chance to reflect, reassess habits, and reorganize priorities. By embracing this stillness, we can grow, redirect our energy toward meaningful goals, and emerge with healthier habits, renewed purpose, and deeper connections
Deeper Questions For Treating Addiction
Addiction isn’t just about substances—it’s about pain, shame, and the human need for relief. This article explores how curiosity and compassion help us understand the deeper emotional roots of substance use, making recovery more possible and humane.
Free Your Mind - Stop Letting Automatic Thoughts Control You
Our minds are powerful, but believing every thought can trap us in stress, self-criticism, and unconscious patterns.
Accept First — Then Change Comes
Real change doesn’t come from forcing ourselves to be different — it begins when we meet our inner experience with compassion. In trauma-informed psychodynamic therapy, acceptance becomes the doorway to healing, offering space for the nervous system to settle and for new possibilities to emerge.
The Art of Attunement & How It Heals
Attunement—the experience of being truly seen and understood—is at the heart of healing. In therapy, it creates safety, fosters self-awareness, and helps repair early attachment wounds.
The Medicine in the Middle: Choosing Wholeness Over War
Black-and-white thinking fuels both personal and collective conflict, but emotional healing begins when we learn to live in “the middle.” This article explores how our inner divisions mirror the polarization around us and why we default to oppositional thinking. It also highlights how therapy can help us hold complexity, tolerate discomfort, and move toward wholeness. If you’re seeking psychotherapy rooted in integration, self-awareness, and transformational inner work, this piece is for you.
Anger and the Shadow: How To Heal the Fire Within
Anger isn’t something to suppress or control — it’s a messenger. This emotion reveals what we value, what has been ignored, and where healing is needed. A psychological perspective explores how anger can reconnect you to your power, your boundaries, and your authentic self.