I combine Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF) and Somatic Experiencing® (SE) to help clients turn toward a stressful experience or challenging issue that’s impacting their quality of life.

In a safe and gentle way, I help clients create an inner environment in which tension eases, old patterns dissolve, wounds heal, and a connection to one’s self deepens and expands.

  • Inner Relationship Focusing (IRF)

    Is an experiential, body-oriented process of self-awareness and emotional healing developed by Ann Weiser Cornell and Barbara McGavin.

  • Somatic Experiencing® (SE)

    Is a body-oriented approach to healing trauma and stress disorders developed by Peter A. Levine, PhD.

What’s in the way, guides the way.

Ironically, the patterns and habits we perceive as "bad," "wrong" or “in the way” are often healthy responses to an unhealthy environment and/or a traumatic experience(s). They're here for a good reason! Let me give an example …

  • For many of us, we may have grown up in environments where being ourselves and speaking honestly came with painful consequences.

    As a result, we learned to not be ourselves … to dim ourselves down and hush our wants because life was “better” if we did.

    So, no wonder it’s hard to trust yourself and value your feelings! Doing so once (or often!) got you into trouble.

  • It’s disorienting when what feels right is risky and “wrong.”

    And, even if you know what feels right, it may be the anticipation of people’s reactions that blocks you from acting.

    That inner struggle of I-want-to-but-I-can’t is not a sign there’s something wrong with you.

    It’s a reflection of just how much a particular pattern was needed to keep you safe and connected.

  • That spot right there … that inner bind of I-want-to-but-I-can’t … is where what I do differs from other practitioners.

    The experience of having a problem is actually your body’s way of communicating something is missing and something is needed so you can live more fully and be more YOU.

    That impossibly stuck place has some wisdom to offer!

Client Shifts Experienced

  • When someone asks them to do something they don’t want to do or don’t have time to do, they’re able to say, “Unfortunately, I can’t.”

    No angst. No over apologizing. Just a kind, clear “No.”

    They go from people-pleasing to empowered living.

  • They can make decisions!

    Instead of feeling caught up in anxiety, confusion or the fog of indecision, they have a process which enables them to make decisions with clarity, confidence and ease.

    If option A doesn’t feel right and neither does option B, then they trust that inner knowing. Neither option is right.

    They have developed the capacity and ability to sit with that uncomfortable feeling of not-quite-right until they arrive at what would feel right.

  • Clients no longer feel tripped up by invalidating comments like “that’s ridiculous” or “you’re too sensitive.”

    Of course, those comments may still sting, but they can tend to that pain without collapsing into it.

    Just because someone perceives their actions as “bad” or “wrong” doesn’t mean they experience themselves as bad or wrong.

    There’s a growing attitude of ‘that’s your perception of me, not the truth about me’.

  • When asked by a partner, friend or family member, what they’d like to do or where they’d like to go, clients voice what’s true for them…. even if their answer disappoints that other person.

    They’re able to stay true to themselves AND allow that other person to have their feelings.

    No more going along, to get along.

    Compromising? Sure. Silencing one’s self? No.

  • When a doctor or practitioner offers advice, clients check in with themselves to see if that recommendation fits and feels right.

    And, if that recommendation feels off, they’ll voice their concerns or ask more questions.

    Even if they can’t quite articulate what specifically feels off, clients will value their initial hesitation and not push past it.

    They know something is missing and something more is needed before making a decision.

Individual Sessions

Transformative shifts can be experienced in a single session and, over time, those small shifts add up to a big change.

Clients simply find themselves acting differently in familiar situations. And yet, there was no fixing, forcing, pushing or white-knuckling their way towards that change. 

Learn more about what individual sessions look like.

Individual Sessions
Close-up of orange and yellow tulips in a garden.

"Maybe the journey isn't so much about becoming anything. Maybe it's about un-becoming everything that isn't really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place."

- Paulo Coelho