Living with Chronic Illness and/or Disability
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The arrival of illness and/or disability is an initiation like no other: breaking down our sense of safety in our bodies, deconstructing our belief systems, dissolving our sense of identity as we have known it and disrupting visions for our future. In its disorientation and confusion, illness and/or disability can often make us feel like we are the only ones traveling along this wayward path. In addition, mainstream narratives often promote rising above our suffering through heroic standards, underscored by toxic positivity. Medical professionals, while often well-meaning, typically do not have the time, nor expertise to support the emotional and spiritual aspects of living with prolonged illness and/or disability.
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Having myself descended into “The Underworld” of complex and mysterious illness for many years of my life, I have learned skills for how to see--and maintain hope--in the dark. You need not face The Unknown alone. Allow me to hold a lantern between us. I am intimately familiar with the terrain of grief and loss, along with personal transformation that can emerge through tending the soul in its darkest, most vulnerable hours.
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As someone who deeply understands debilitating fatigue that often accompanies illness and/or disability, I’m aware that the traditional 50 minute psychotherapy session can be more draining than helpful. Together, we will figure out what is actually therapeutic for you. For example, this may mean that you choose to lie down during our sessions and not look at the computer screen. If processing your experience through talk therapy isn’t possible for you regularly or on a given day due to your symptoms, I can integrate guided visualizations, healing meditations, poems and somatic awareness into our time together. You experience enough difficulties living in an ableist society; therapy need not be another set of expectations that are hard to meet. This time is meant to support you. Allow me to sensitively craft my therapeutic approach so that it will attune to your specific needs.