My work is informed by contemplative psychotherapy and relational mindfulness, alongside trauma-informed approaches that support nervous system regulation. These ways of working share a common aim: helping us feel resourced enough to stay present with our experience, rather than becoming overwhelmed or disconnected from it.
I work with people to develop a quality of spacious, reflective awareness. This is sometimes called witness consciousness or dual awareness, where we are able to be in our experience while also reflecting on it. When we are sufficiently resourced, we can work through emotional difficulty without becoming lost in it, allowing us to move from reactivity to responsiveness and choice.
Working in this way often helps us notice patterns in our inner life. It can be useful to explore how we relate to different aspects of experience. This can include our thinking and habitual mental formations, our embodied sense of self, our perceptions and meanings, our feelings and sensations, and our relationship with awareness itself. As we bring attention to these dimensions and stay in relationship with them, something can begin to shift. Awareness, held in a grounded and reflective way, can support deep structural change and greater openness.
This work is supported by a compassionate attitude toward our inner life, and an acceptance of the places where pain, vulnerability, or shadow are present. Rather than avoiding what is difficult, we learn to turn toward it at a pace that feels workable. From this place, moments of connection, clarity, and aliveness can emerge naturally, without being forced or pushed.
I work in a trauma-informed way, drawing particularly on Babette Rothschild’s approach, with an emphasis on safety, resourcing, present-time orientation, and helping clients differentiate past from present.
