I work from a relational, feminist, and psychodynamic therapy framework. Here's what that means:

​

1. Our relationships create us. As a relational therapist, I attune to the patterns and dynamics of how you learned to relate to others early in your life through present day. We'll examine together how these relational patterns have both benefited and held you back. As we get to know each other, the relationship we share on a weekly basis will be an important source of self-understanding and healing.

​

2. I work with people of all genders. As a feminist therapist, I look for the ways you had to adapt to live in a world that is patriarchal, white supremacist, hetero- and cis-normative, and capitalist. Often these adaptations have helped you survived but have harmed your being. Psychological suffering, such as anxiety, relational instability, and depression, are often symptoms of our adaptations to a world not meant for us. Even if we receive benefits from certain societal structures (such as if we are white, or male, or in an "opposite sex" relationship), we often suffer from witnessing its effects on others, conscious or unconscious knowledge of our complicity, and/or from feeling that we do not fit the dominant culture even if our appearance or identities suggest we should. As your therapist, I will invite your reflections on how the expectations and injustices in the world around you impacted your being.

 

3. "Psychodynamic" means that I believe our minds and our ways of being are flexible, and we always have the ability to grow and change. As a psychodynamic therapist, I believe that only that which can be named can be healed. Humans have a natural tendency to disconnect our awareness from that which is too painful, whether that is trauma we experienced in the past, or events currently happening in our lives. Therapy is a process of naming what has previously felt un-nameable, of looking directly at that which terrifies, and of doing so in the presence of a safe and strong other. Only through this can we shift the foundations of the lives we are building to become solid and sturdy, and make choices based on our realities rather than our fantasies.

​

4. My work is aimed at depth rather than quick fixes. My goals for you are not just reducing anxiety, but growing courage in the face of uncertainty or instability. Not just feeling less depressed, but experiencing aliveness that comes from connecting with your core self. Not just making a seemingly impossible decision, but growing strength to hold the many paradoxes life hands you. Not just feeling less lonely, but stepping towards others in faith that even the most hidden parts of you are worthy of love and care.

​

> About Christine

>Contact Me