Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Therapy is a psycho-dynamic, present-centered and relational approach to talk therapy. I believe that a person’s history colors how they experience the present, but that few are fully aware of this process in day-to-day life. We’ll work together to move from judgment to curiosity, so that we can notice what reactions are based on historical assumptions, or grounded in our actual, shared experience of one another in the here-and-now.

With this approach, we will work together to focus on your experience in the present moment.

In my work with gender diverse folks, I use Gestalt therapy to help you stay grounded in the present while exploring your identity. Together, we’ll focus on raising your awareness of who you are right now and breaking free from judgments that no longer serve you. Therapy is political, especially for marginalized identities, and we’ll tackle the societal pressures shaping your experience. My goal is to empower you to reclaim your identity, resist harmful norms, and embrace your personal freedom.

Be here now, with me, talking. Gestalt therapy draws on the power inherent in creative dialogue grounded in embodied awareness of the present moment. This style of therapeutic interaction grows out of earlier psychodynamic styles as they encounter mindfulness traditions from Asia. After training five years, I became credentialed as a certified Gestalt therapist and psychoanalyst. Before and during that, I did a lot of meditating, retreats, and ran a dharma center. Still do, still no expert.

Be here now, with me, talking. Gestalt therapy draws on the power inherent in creative dialogue grounded in embodied awareness of the present moment. This style of therapeutic interaction grows out of earlier psychodynamic styles as they encounter mindfulness traditions from Asia. After training five years, I became credentialed as a certified Gestalt therapist and psychoanalyst. Before and during that, I did a lot of meditating, retreats, and ran a dharma center. Still do, still no expert.

It can help you increase your awareness of what you are experiencing (psychically and emotionally) in each moment.

I have a passion for gestalt psychotherapy.

Gestalt is a way of understanding human experience and the process of change. According to Gestalt, change only happens when we accept ourselves exactly as we are. By paying close attention to the present moment, we discover both new and familiar aspects of ourselves and unlock new possibilities for choice and growth. I receive ongoing training through Gestalt Therapy Training Center Northwest, as well as regular individual supervision and consultation.

Gestalt is a type of parts work therapy, which means we see the human psyche as a combination of different parts that sometimes have quite different feelings and needs. Parts work can be incredibly helpful when we conceptualize inner conflict, and can help bring compassion to parts that hold challenging or outdated beliefs about ourselves, others or the world. I use Gestalt therapy to support my clients in growing awareness and understanding of our complexity as human beings.

I focus on the here and now, understanding the past exists, but not allowing the to define your future.

Sometimes just talking about a problem doesn't quite get the job done. By engaging in "safe experiments" in session, Gestalt therapy helps us to release ourselves from the bondage of old emotional wounds.

Gestalt therapy is oriented around building awareness: of ourselves, of our thoughts & behaviors, of our choices, and of our physical systems that are constantly sending us invaluable data about our experiences. Through the gestalt process, clients learn to become more aware of how their own negative thought patterns and behaviors are blocking true self-awareness.

Gestalt Therapy is all about our whole sense of self. That whole self encounters a whole world and that brings on a whole host of difficulties. Being able to understand that dialogue that is always going on within and without our selves can be helpful to increase our satisfaction with ourselves

As a relational body-centered gestalt therapist, I believe in the power of embodied presence, creative resilience, and the application of here-and-now approaches to counseling/psychotherapy. My approach allows us to get to the heart of how your past may be living in your present and manifesting in ways that may once have been helpful but are currently maladaptive and counterproductive.