Therapy Services
Specialized for individuals with chronic illness & pain, anxiety, and unmanageable stress
Our human needs are intrinsic to our nature and never to be shamed. It is the strategies we use, consciously or unconsciously, to get our intrinsic needs met that can run us into challenges and dysfunction.
The conditioning of our family of origin, culture, trauma, and often toxic societal systems, needs to be unraveled; we must reweave these into more useful, coherent, and adaptive patterns, capable of fully supporting us.
As your therapist, I’m not here to fix you, but to help you untangle those places that feel snarled, so you can fully access the resources, vitality, and agency that already exist within you.
Whether you are dealing with pain, anxiety, stress, or all three, I invite you to get curious with me instead of staying in a cycle of shame and blame.
Individual Sessions
(Ages 18+)
Individual clients from all backgrounds and walks of life are welcome here! Sessions include a balance of psychoeducation, experiential and somatic exploration, and mindfulness based tools, skills, and strategies. I am ready to listen and support you in your search for relief, meaning, and coherence.
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Telehealth sessions are offered through a secure Google Meet platform. This is a great option if you have a busy schedule, a mobility or health concern, or are a California resident who lives outside the Santa Cruz area.
To prepare, please ensure you have:
A strong internet connection
Device with a good camera and microphone
A private, quiet space in which you may speak safely and freely
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Come to my beautiful office space in Aptos, CA in the Santa Cruz area. This is the best option for you if you want to fully immerse in a safe space and get a defined break from the rest of your day. Here you are guaranteed complete privacy from anyone you share your home or environment with. Ample nearby parking is available.
Appointment Options
“The pain cannot be ignored or wished away. But underneath the clanging noise of the pain there is a deep wholeness that can be re-inhabited if, just for a moment, we could approach willingly, sense precisely and befriend tenderly the body that seems to be letting us down so badly.”
— Mark Williams
Workshops, Classes, & Groups
Coping With Eco Anxiety
Finding Vitality & Meaning in Difficult Times
A 90 minute group workshop appropriate for educational, nonprofit, and business settings. Participants will learn skills and acquire tools for coping with fatigue, overwhelm, anger, anxiety, despair, loneliness, and other results of chronic stress. We will also explore how to better access solace, hope, connection, wonder, values, and committed action. Available both in-person and virtually.
Empowered Relief ®
Next Class: TBA
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“Empowered Relief® is a single-session (2-hour) intervention that rapidly equips patients with effective pain relief skills. Empowered Relief was developed by Beth Darnall in 2013 at the Stanford University School of Medicine and is delivered only by certified clinicians.
The Empowered Relief line of science includes published evidence from four randomized controlled trials conducted at Stanford University School of Medicine involving patients with chronic pain and patients undergoing different types of surgery.
All four trials yielded clinically meaningful results and durable efficacy. Multidimensional benefits across a range of symptoms suggest that Empowered Relief is an all-purpose intervention for people with acute and chronic pain.”
For more information, please visit Empowered Relief.
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Classes are given quarterly both in-person and online. New Date announcements and registration will be made here at least two months in advance.
When attending, participants are strongly encouraged to bring a family member, friend, or caregiver with them.
If you would like a private class at your organization or hospital, I am happy to come to you. Please contact me for details.
