A Long December- Counting Crows Every year, this song resurfaces.Not because we’re nostalgic for the 90s, though maybe that too, but because it captures something deeply human: the ache of a year that was heavier than we expected. It puts words to things we often keep quiet: the regrets we replay the distance we don’t know how to bridge the guilt we hold in our chest the moments we wished we’d shown up differently the longing that sits under our attempts to…

Internal Family Systems. Internal Family Systems (IFS) has become one of the most meaningful approaches I use because it helps people understand themselves with compassion instead of judgment. Many clients come in wondering why they react so strongly, shut down so quickly, or carry old wounds that still feel fresh. IFS gives us a way to talk about these emotional forces by viewing them as “parts”, inner voices, reactions, or roles that formed for a reason. The beauty of this model is…

One of the most quoted lines in the song is:“Maybe this year will be better than the last.” It’s a simple sentence, but it carries the weight of every disappointment, every missed attempt at repair, every moment we told ourselves “I’ll handle it later” and later never came. This isn’t the shiny, Instagram-quote kind of hope.It’s the quiet, weathered kind… the hope that remains after regret, shame, or relational distance.Hope that knows what it costs to hope again. This is the kind…

There’s a line in the song that goes:“And the feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters but no pearls.” If the holidays stir something tender, complicated, or heavy in you, you’re not alone. This season often magnifies grief, not just the grief of people we’ve lost, but the grief of years that didn’t go the way we hoped, relationships we struggled to repair, mistakes we regret, or versions of ourselves we miss. Even joy can feel layered, like it has shadows…

Men tend to seek counseling less often than women for seemingly a number of reasons. A main reason is the vulnerability it takes to come into therapy and share what we are struggling with is typically the opposite of what men are told is allowed to show growing up. Boys will often be told to ‘man up’ when upset or showing signs of vulnerability or emotions. A number of reports have shown, “men do not seek counseling for emotional disturbances, which is…

In our current world, many of us experience trauma not only by being physically present at a violent event, but also through what we see, hear, and read in its aftermath. The recent news and circulating images of Charlie Kirk’s death are a reminder of this reality. Even if we weren’t there in person, witnessing violence through screens can leave us shaken, fearful, and heavy with emotion. For some, these moments evoke sadness and grief. For others, they stir anger, numbness, or…

In high school, I was certain I wanted to be a doctor. I envisioned myself on the Labor & Delivery floor of a hospital, witnessing the miracle of new life every day. I dreamed of performing surgeries, making life-saving decisions, and changing lives through medicine… perhaps influenced by my love of the TV show Grey’s Anatomy. My school offered a unique opportunity for students interested in medicine to shadow a physician for a week. I eagerly signed up, fascinated by everything I…

Adolescence is a time of growth, exploration, and identity formation, but it can also be filled with emotional turbulence. As a therapist who loves working with teens and has spent over four years working in youth ministry, I believe I have an adequate understand of the unique challenges they face. From shifting friendships to academic pressures, family struggles, and emotional ups and downs, teens need a safe and supportive space to process their experiences. From an attachment perspective, therapy offers teens something…

What is Trauma? Trauma.What came to mind when you read that word? Was it war? Violence? A major accident? Abuse? If it was, you wouldn’t be alone. The more I talk with people, it’s the major events that seem to be most associated with the word trauma. And for good reason. War, Abuse, Violence, Racism, Poverty, Neglect and their link with trauma have been well studied and documented. However, trauma isn’t just the big terrible events that happen to us. Sometimes, trauma…