Sometimes Life Is Painful
Focusing on yourself in counseling may feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you are like the clients I work with who strive to have it all together or feel they lack faith or strength when seeking help from a professional.
I help clients who struggle like you do. Despite having faith, intelligence, lots to be thankful for, and a strong work ethic, life is still painful.
It's overwhelming trying to be everything to everyone in your life. Moreover, it’s deeply confusing when specific experiences with church and/or church culture are a significant source of your pain. Opting out of your life and trying not to feel your emotions provides some relief, but it isn’t long before you’re right back where you started. It can feel good to strive for achievements or even perfection to prove your worth, but this doesn’t bring long-term satisfaction. Confiding in others seems impossible. Before long, worry and anxiety dominate your time and energy. You feel further away from God, something else your mind gives you a hard time about.
Self-criticism, perfectionism, doubt, guilt, and exhaustion from endless thinking
Do any of these sound familiar?
You have difficulty being kind to yourself despite being compassionate toward others
You opt out of important events or relationships so you don’t have to experience discomfort
You think you don’t belong and fear being discovered and disappointing others
You doubt yourself and feel spiritually lost
You feel wounded and cynical about your faith and church experience
You are looking for a professional counselor who shares a like-faith and your values
Leave The Overwhelm Behind
In our counseling sessions, clients learn to place less emphasis on things out of their control. Instead, they devote more time, energy, and effort to who and what matters most to them in life. They learn to show compassion to themselves and others, embracing the human God designed them to be. This looks like more time praying, reading the Bible, and serving others. They engage more with family and friends, feel comfortable in their skin, and see themselves as God sees them.
The clients I help find that by learning new ways to relate to their hurt as they prioritize who and what matters most to them, they don’t need their inner critic, and they can put down the mask of having it all together.
I help clients move away from the exhaustion of endless thinking and trying to be everything to everyone else. Just like the clients I work with, you deserve to spend less time on things out of your control and more time and energy on important relationships, serving others, and connecting to God.
Imagine Having A Full, Rich, And Meaningful Life
I work with adult clients who want to feel connected to themselves, their families, and God. They want to feel understood and accepted. They’re tired of feeling guilty about their struggle, wearing masks, and pretending everything is okay. They’re ready to learn how to cope with difficult emotions and painful circumstances and want a deeper understanding of themselves and their struggle.
You deserve to love and to be loved. You deserve to live a full, rich, and meaningful life. You deserve to know that it is okay to be a pastor, a person of faith, or a Christian AND still experience the painful realities of life. I can help you move away from anxiety and overwhelm and towards the relationships and experiences that give life meaning and richness.
Let’s Work Together!
Select a location to reach out and get started.
Move From...
Feeling spiritually lost and cynical
Betrayal by someone you trusted
Feeling hopeless and bound by pain
Exhausted by endless thinking and worry
Proving your worth and value
And Go Towards...
Connected to God/faith, yourself, and others
Wholeness, self-acceptance, and self-trust
Hope, understanding, and freedom to live
Present, aware, and in control of your time and energy
Feeling good enough with good boundaries
Go from avoidance to acceptance
The more we try not to have our pain, the more pain we have. Why? Because when we devote our time, energy, and effort to trying not to have our struggle, we move away from God and the people and experiences that matter most to us. This is the pain of absence. The absence of the things we value most. This is human - we do this automatically. We are even more prone to this cycle since we live in a “fix it” culture that promotes getting and staying happy. Pain is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to control your life.
Counseling can help!
Where We'll Meet
Options To Suit Your Needs
What To Expect
Whether this is your first time in counseling or you have tried counseling before, starting counseling can feel overwhelming. It's common to feel anxious about meeting someone new. The clients I help may feel uneasy or scared to talk about painful experiences when they start counseling. Knowing this, we will spend time on our connection and creating a sense of security necessary for meaningful work together. You can expect me to be compassionate, thoughtful, and direct – challenging you when appropriate. Clients commonly report a sense of relief after their first session. They often say, “Calling and taking the first step was the hardest part.”
Doing meaningful counseling work can be difficult, but moving closer to your values is so rewarding. I’ll work with you to clarify your coping efforts that make sense at first but ultimately move you away from what’s important to you. You will gain understaning and insight into what is and isn't helping you to experience relief. We will find new ways of relating to yourself, to others, and your struggle. Together, we will develop new approaches to your struggle in service of a meaningful life free of added suffering.