About
What’s therapy all about anyway?
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” ~Henry David Thoreau
While we can’t really ask Thoreau what he meant, we believe that ‘quiet desperation’ is the result of the soul-crushing gap between the person we somehow think we should be and the person we were created to be — between being slave to the internal tyrant:
“I should be able to hold it all together.”
“I shouldn’t feel this way.”
“I should be able to keep my marriage together.”
“I should be a better wife, mother, daughter, ____ (Insert favorite self-critical remark here!).”
— and the person who is uniquely designed and already ENOUGH… just as you are.
Therapy is about bridging the gap.
One of the great things about therapy is that it meets you where you are rather than where you should be. You probably already beat yourself up enough, and it hasn’t helped!
Therapy is a place where you can check your pile of ‘shoulds’ at the door and just be who and where you are. It is a safe place where you know that you are deeply heard and understood. This is our starting point. Together we will dismantle those sanctimonious ‘shoulds’ and build a bridge that deals with what is so that you can choose the next steps to move you forward in the life you were meant to live.
About Michelle
I like to crochet. My mom taught me when I was a little girl, and I’ve always found it relaxing. I remember one time a few years ago, my dog got into my yarn. I came home from work to find him sitting in the middle of a beautiful blue-green twisted, knotted, mess of yarn. Of course, he was too cute to be mad at, so I just had to laugh.
Life is messy.
Let’s face it; life can sometimes feel like the pile of yarn I found on the floor in my living room – a tangled mess.
I know my life certainly has! I would figure out a few knots, take a few steps down the twisty path and run right into an even bigger knot.
Therapy helped me.
Along my own snarled and winding path, therapy has helped me untangle many of the bigger knots. It had such a profound impact on my life that about 15 years ago, I went back to school to become a counselor to help others as I had been helped.
In addition to counseling, my faith has played and continues to play a powerful role in my life. It is the rock I stand on and the source of strength as I wind my way through this entangled path called life.
While this means that my counseling perspective is faith-informed; it does NOT mean, “Take 2 scriptures and call me in the morning!” It also does NOT mean that it needs to be part of our work together. If faith and spirituality are not part of your story. I respect that and will meet you exactly where you are.
I can help.
I don’t know your journey – your twists, turns and knots. But I do know how it feels to be where you are. I know the courage it takes to make that first phone call. I also know that I love to help people just like you. It will be my privilege to walk the winding path with you and help untie those stubborn knots. Give me a call and let’s get started!
About Pam
If I weren’t a therapist, I’d be an interior designer or a professional organizer. I love to organize things and make rooms beautiful. I guess you could say, I like to bring order to chaos!
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could tame life’s emotional and relational chaos this way? Can I get a drawer divider to separate my enmeshed family members… a “floor plan” for parenting that shows me exactly what to do… or a gorgeous slipcover to cover the scars from my failed marriage? Unfortunately, life’s turmoil isn’t so easy to deal with.
I should know.
I have been there. I know the pain that can come from relational challenges, the intense struggle to make it okay, and the sense of depletion and failure when you can’t. Whether it be a separation, divorce, or estrangement; whether it involves a toxic spouse, a parent, sibling, child or friend… it can hurt deeply when these relationships aren’t where you want them to be.
I had to get help, so I sought counseling.
Part of organizing and designing a room is about picking what needs to stay and what needs to go – and how much to invest in each part of the design. Similarly, I had to figure out which relationships were too toxic to keep, which required a reduction in emotional investment, and which relationships were healthy and needed an increase in investment. I had to learn that I was not invisible. I was an integral part of the design and needed to be cared for and valued as much as the other parts. Counseling helped me do this.
Because of my own experiences and the education I received both in and out of the classroom, my heart goes out to those in relational pain.
If this is you, let me help.
Let’s find a path through life’s chaos and bring some order to it. I have been helping people like you for 25 years. I am confident that together we can design a life that allows you to feel alive and present in all your relationships. Why wait? Give me a call today.
