LMFT, 10 years of experience
New to Grow
Hi, I'm Lydia. Do you often place others' needs before your own? Is it usually easier to guess what others are feeling, rather than being able to identify your feelings? Do your relationships often feel one-sided, and you end up feeling resentful? I support and empower individuals and couples to overcome challenges with anxiety, worry, codependency, and perfectionism, and create healthier relationships with a felt-sense of safety, equality, respect, and trust. I love combining conversation and body movement, to discover what is being held inside the body, waiting to be expressed and healed. Together we identify and explore new ways of being in the world from a state of safety, through healing trauma and not buying into societal attempts to pressure us to act and be a certain way. Therapy can be a bit scary and overwhelming if you've never experienced it before. I am committed to creating a safe, empathic, and non-judgmental space for you to practice being true to your own personality, values, and spirit. I look forward to our working together!
In our first session, we get to know each other, by you sharing your "best hopes" in therapy. Hopefully, we begin to build a connection of safety and trust, and decide we would like to work together. I always provide a calm space that is comforting and non-judgmental. Then, we begin to talk about your childhood, relationships, strengths, and growing edges. This first session is more of an "assessment" where I begin to learn about you, and together we decide on a few goals/things you want to work on in our therapy sessions.
My biggest strength is my personal experience healing from codependency and the pain of living a false-self. I grew up thinking I needed to take care of others, at the cost of my own dreams. As I learned about and gained access to my true-self, with the support of 12-step recovery and therapy, I felt free to live beyond mere survival. With this knowledge of self, I am able to listen and reflect with clients who are struggling from loss and fearing new beginnings. I am curious by nature, and love to watch others grow.
As a recovering "people-pleaser" I am able to be empathic with clients from a learned experience. I grew up believing taking care of others (including my three brothers, mother, and father) would earn me the love and nurturing I craved. And, since my needs were not being met, I grew to believe that others' needs mattered more than mine. I understand that setting boundaries can be scary, because we might push people away. I help clients shift to a mindset that says "my needs matter as much as yours". My goals in therapy are what the client tells me are their "best hopes". I also offer a way to better understand the importance of how our nervous system protects and heals us. I always hold space for hope and a new path of truly living life.
I help clients shift from a trauma mindset of shame and self-criticism to self-compassion and authenticity, with the use of somatic experiencing and talk therapy.
In sessions we explore the connection between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, to better understand why we make the decisions we do, and to improve our mood and reduce anxiety.
In sessions, we practice deep-breathing and other mindfulness exercises for calming the nervous system and bringing awareness into the present moment.
I use somatic experiencing in my own life, and help clients find the benefits of coming home to their bodies, realizing they are safe when their nervous system is regulated.
I use SFBT techniques like "best hopes" to stay focused on the solution and change, rather than getting stuck in the problem.