In 15 years of professional experience, my current understanding is that emotional and psychological problems are unique struggles rooted in past experience and in ongoing social dynamics. Being stuck in patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior are overwhelmingly socially mediated — and although the means to moving forward are mostly in our own hands — the method to getting unstuck is best constructed in relationship.
My graduate degree in clinical social work from Smith College gives me both a solid theoretical foundation, and a healthy skepticism for the many strongly advertised sub-genres of therapy in the realm of psychotherapy. Smith emphasized the importance of authenticity in relationship, above all else, including theoretical doctrine. And, as a CA State Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCS 27930) I am ethically and legally obliged to maintain ongoing education with regard to best practices in the field of psychotherapy; incorporating new practice models and techniques as I find them helpful and applicable to my clients’ needs. Despite this formal training, I strongly believe that my professional experience over more than a decade working with children, individual adults, and families, is the most important level in my professional toolbox.
Years of hearing the struggles that so many children and families navigate lead me to search for a new approach to addressing the relational roadblocks common for teens and parents of teens. Airing out these struggles on an easy jog (or walk) while staying rooted in the work of a formal therapeutic relationship builds a context that many past clients say is just easier. I think it feels more doable than sitting with a psychotherapist in an implicitly confrontational office setting. This is particularly true for young adults who aren’t keen on the idea of therapy to begin with, and for those of us who prefer an outdoor meeting in a beautiful spot to yet another meeting in a box.
The interdependence of mental and physical health are increasingly recognized in Western medicine, sports psychology, and our common sense acceptance of the confluence of mind & body. Your Pace Psychotherapy, a hybrid of psychotherapy & physical coaching, can help catalyze emotional and psychological change by engaging mind and body simultaneously.