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!

Snowstorms & Embodiment

Have you ever been travelling during a snowstorm? The phenomena is something that can test your mental and physical limits. This weekend I was the copilot with a dear friend while we traveled to Michigan, where we encountered snowstorms on the way there and back. As I reflect on how we supported each other through the journey, I was brought to my body.

How do we know when stress has occurred? Very often, we can identify this through our body signals: tight chest, shallow breathing, or a churning of the gut. I’ve been finishing an online training entitled: Toward an Embodied Self. This training is incorporating somatic techniques for therapists who specialize in processing all forms of trauma. In the training, we are instructed to pay very close attention to our clients non-verbal cues, most of which are found in body language.

When we are under acute or chronic stress, our bodies are the best way of alerting us if we pay attention. In my work with clients, many have cut themselves off from their body cues due to their trauma history. The task of reacquainting them with their body can be a slow and gradual process. What is the best way to start this process? By creating safety within the body.

How do we begin the process of creating safety in the body? When my friend was driving through the snowstorm, how did I support her? We begin to talk about and explore resources that can create a positive shift in the body. Examples could be: talking about a pleasant place my friend visited that was warm and sunny (visual), imagining stroking my dogs soft fur (tactile), listening to fun music (auditory), or biting into a crisp apple (olfactory and taste). I also read her funny buzzfeed articles (laughing heals).

When we allow ourselves to pay attention to how our bodies feel when we engage in pleasant resources, there is a shift. Where once there was tension, it has melted away. Where there was once unease, we find our breathing gets easier. We notice the contrast of our stressed bodies with our resourced bodies.

Even though Abby and I were stuck in a car for longer than we wanted, in circumstances that were less than ideal, we made it through. We both consciously and unconsciously resourced our bodies. In the processing of trauma, we are looking for the body to integrate the experience so we no longer carry the remnants of it in our fascia, muscles, and cells. We become more resilient to stress in the future. We become more embodied as a whole person.

If you are interested in knowing more about the process of embodiment, bringing safety back to the body, and more, my coaching services address all these needs. I’m more than happy to talk on the phone about how I can help. Please send me a message and we can chat!