It's been a while, but with a big update!

Most (if not all) of my past blogs have centered around therapy related topics, which I feel are the most important things to talk about. But for now, an important update. For the past year and a half, I have been lucky enough to share an office space with a former colleague in Coolidge Corner and this has allowed me the opportunity to both build and grow my practice.

In the past month, a series of events took place that eventually led to me acquiring a new office space in Brighton (which I am very excited about!). It is a larger space that I am truly looking forward to for many reasons. I always value the need for clients to pursue therapists they feel comfortable with, in addition to that I have always felt that the environment where I meet with clients is extremely important as well. Being able to have this office space as my own allows me the freedom to create an environment that I feel is conducive for therapy. Another positive is having increased availability for scheduling appointments, which I know will be helpful for more consistency and options for clients. 

I always encourage people seeking therapists to not only make sure that they pursue those they feel comfortable with, but I also feel the environment where you meet plays a factor as well. Opening up about your personal struggles is a vulnerable process, so being with a therapist in an office space that promotes comfort and peace should (hopefully) be a priority as well. Looking forward to present and future clients meeting with me in my new space. Pictures will be posted in my next blog. 

The Complexities of Change, and being a Human Being

I'm back! Pardon the (almost) two month hiatus, I was trying to take my own advice and practice self-care. I think most would agree, summer days and weeks can go by fast at times. In any case, I digress! 

Change, and being a human being. These may seem like two separate and mutually exclusive topics. Change in our lives can be so constant, or feel as if nothing is changing at all. How is this possible? I am not sure, but at times we can feel overwhelmed by changes, whether they be personal and self-reflective, relational and/or work-life related, or changes taking place in the world that are on a constant reel and its hard to keep up at times. Or, amidst all of that, sometimes we can feel as if nothing changes, that we are the same person that we were when we were many years ago. Either of these points can feel so overwhelming at times, its likely we may feel depressed or anxious that life is moving too quickly or too slowly. Frankly, life is full of changes and they are constant, and whether we feel the effects of them or not is what differentiates us from each other. It's a part of the human experience to live through many life changes, and during all of these we need to learn to cope and deal with them. That's where the connection to being a human being is related to change.

Change is inevitable, and as human beings we have no choice but to somehow (hopefully) try to learn and adapt to . We all learn and cope with life events and personal struggles differently, but we must not forget we are human beings, full of complex emotions and its a struggle to adapt to new things at times. It's alright if you are sad at the loss of a friendship; its to be expected when you lose your job that you will be feeling depressed; and if you are feeling anxious due to recent family changes or events that you need to be involved in; there is really nothing more than that that makes you human. 

When I work with clients I hear often how much they may go through changes and feel frustrations that they are experiencing these things called feelings that affect their mood and  what they feel like is their quality of life at times. I've had conversations where, if a client is reporting a loss of a close grandparent, for example, and they are frustrated and mad at themselves for feeling sad; I always pose the question, "Why wouldn't you be sad in this situation?"  We are humans, yet we expect ourselves not to be, which is was in the end causes us to have the most rifts with ourselves and who we need to be. Our real self versus our ideal self. The real self wants to be sad and mourn the loss, but the ideal tells us to put on a happy face and mourn quickly, as being sad is frowned upon in society. It's a constant battle we all face in different ways. 

This is definitely a topic I am passionate about, as it comes up within all of us. On the next blog, I will talk more about the ideal versus real and ways in which you can work towards being your authentic self.