2025 Practice Updates

We are already through the first month of 2025, and I have been coming up for air after having a lovely restful time off during the holiday season. January is usually a busy time for welcoming new clients to my practice, preparing for tax season, and setting professional intentions for the year ahead. In this vein, I also want to acknowledge how much our country and world have changed since last year. Many clients are coming to therapy with many anxieties about their sense of community safety and belonging. I hope to provide support and services to meet you in those spaces of anxiety and offer ways to keep you healthy during these uncertain times.

This being said, here are a few pre-existing offerings and new updates in my practice in 2025:

1. Somatic processing: I have attended many somatic trainings and find that when we have too much coming at us, we often get emotions and stress stuck in the body. Therapy sessions can help us keep our bodies free from emotional and stressful blockages. Many suggestions involve finding micro-movements that feel good to the body, help to release stress, and activate more of our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).

2. Cannabis education: Last year, I completed a course on becoming a Cannabis Educator. While I am not able to give direct recommendations on the use of cannabis, I can talk through what and how cannabis can work as a healing medicine, a fantastic endocannabinoid system regulator, and how to manage symptoms of tolerance and titrating with CBD products. CBD is a non-psychoactive substance found in hemp and is legal for over-the-counter use. I highly advocate experimenting with CBD products to help with anxiety-related symptoms.

3. Florida clients with Blue Cross Blue Shield (Florida Blue) insurance: I am now an in-network provider for Florida Blue and am accepting new clients. If you have out-of-state Blue Cross plans, I offer to provide superbills for your therapy fees to see if you can get in-network reimbursement. Please remember that I cannot provide superbills if you live outside my licensed states (Illinois, Georgia, Florida).

4. Counseling Compact to expand provider access across state lines: The counseling field has initiated the same type of national licensing compacts that psychologists and other licensed providers already have. The national compact allows licensed counselors to become licensed in multiple states more easily. They hope the compact will be open for applications starting later this year. Upon learning more about the procedures, I hope to expand my access to Missouri, Wisconsin, Colorado, and other states.

Every year, I set learning goals aligned with my values as a psychotherapist and healer. This year, I am taking more courses around neurodiversity, obtaining more training specifically for women with ADHD, and taking a course on using nutrition supplementation to balance neurotransmitter function. I'm excited to share more about my learning and offerings in the coming months! In the meantime, if you are interested in working with me, my application is here. Take good care of yourself!

Embracing Neurodiversity: A panel discussion at Gulf Coast State College

Last month during Autism awareness month, I had a privilege of being a part of a panel discussion at Gulf Coast State College on Neurodiversity. While most school years are coming to a close, we had a robust conversation among two neurodiverse students and two professionals on a wide variety of topics in neurodiversity. Since our topics share so much relevance to neurodiverse students, clients and people in the world, I thought I would share a few of the questions and answers we discussed in the panel.

Our Neurodiversity panel at Gulf Coast State College: yours truly, Crystal Grey-Hewett from FSU CARD autism program, along with Darian and William, our neurodiverse student representatives.

• In what ways do you believe neurodiversity enriches academic, professional, or creative communities? Neurodiversity can enrich many spaces with innately different vantage points in which to approach a question, problem, outlook, behavior, or viewpoint. All spaces, when approached with curiosity and openness, can benefit from a different viewpoint or way of doing things.

  • Analogy of using hyper focus: For many ND people, they have the ability to hyper focus on areas of interest. This can look like: lots of research, collecting everything about the topic, making art about the topic, sending lots of emails or communicating for long periods about the topic. In this way, if you give an ND person something to work on that speaks to already expressed interest, you have a gem of a student, employee, or colleague to help assist in any joint effort.

• How can we better accommodate neurodivergent students, particularly those with ADHD and autism? Can students where sunglasses, hats, earplugs/headphones other wearable accommodations? Can lighting be adjusted if requested? Can students write down their questions or responses before being called upon suddenly in class? What are teachers communication expectations regarding email response time, etc?

• How can we as an institution and individuals foster an environment that not only accommodates but celebrates neurodiverse people? Allow for the unexpected and unusual. Let yourself be surprised by differing viewpoints and communication styles. Allow a person to talk with you about their special interest, then trade. Make time for special help or 1:1 time: learning lab, tutors, but also instructors. Allow what you used to think was weird or “out of bounds.”

• What strategies would you recommend to neurodivergent students to be proactive in their self-care and academic success? First, self-accommodation is self care. Second, look to your previous academic year as a guide for what may work. When in doubt, look to the big five: Sleep, nutrition, time management (schedule and downtime), sensory, and support.

• How can students build a support team on campus? What roles can peers, faculty, and mental health professionals play in this team? Utilize support services for learning (tutors), accommodations (disability services), class (office hours), finding a ND buddy on campus, counseling, advising, and mental health care if needed.

• What message or advice would you give to neurodivergent individuals about recognizing and leveraging their unique strengths? Your difference is your strength. Find people who see your difference and celebrate it, are curious about it, and want to know more. Many high functioning ND people feel as though their lived experiences of the world is different than other people. So letting your story be seen, be heard, and be expressed in a space where you are safe and supported!

• If you are reading this, and are interested in working with me, feel free to fill out my application here or email me. I look forward to helping you in your neurodiverse journey!