How I “live” Life: The “self” in Therapy

At the age of 29 I left the religion I grew up in, commonly known as Mormonism, and set a goal to establish a way of life that demanded me to think for myself, to be curious, and to truly makes choices and live by what resonated with my heart. I repeated the old yoga mantra that I taught in my classes to myself many times "Om Namah Shivaya Gurave", which translates to, "I honor the teacher within and with out." It was scary to try and wipe my slate clean and constantly challenge my own stories, stereotypes, and consistently run into the the uncomfortable feeling that I did not know the right answer. It was a struggle to navigate my divorce, starting a new business for myself, and be on my own for the first time since I was in college. There was a continual bringing me to my knees with the question: How do I do this? What is right and wrong for me?

It took time but I discovered much of myself and my own morals, traditions, and ethics. I am passionate about equal rights for all humans, genders, races, and support any kind of sexual orientation a person identifies with. I am fierce about the potential effects that growing up in a patriarchal society can have on both men and women. And I find most of all, since I was in my teen years and was very impressed with Ghandi, I believe in finding a non-violent way to resolve conflict of any sort. Every human deserves safety, compassion, a space to be heard, and a way to have their needs met.  

My own traditions involve a strong connection with my own intuition and God and letting my own belief in a dharmic path for me to guide my actions daily. I believe in being authentic and kind, seeking a way to relate to others and not lose myself. And I find that self-awareness is a daily practice that requires melting my judgments of myself and others and seeing what wounds and needs are there.

What my hope is is that all of this helps me become not only a good person, but become a Marriage and Family therapist with a strong sense of self that does not feel threatened by the differences that I encounter. When I offer compassion for my own imperfections and observe my own messy path in life with love and forgiveness I give space for others to have their journey and find the compassion to approach and hear them. I can honor that my way is not someone else's way, because to convince and fix is a form of violence in my own world that does not honor their “Self”.  My devotion to non-violent communication and a safe space for all humans to be heard can help me offer therapy to people that may disagree with my personal beliefs. 

I know that I can be a very opinionated, fiery and fierce person; and I hope that I can be humble and approach any one person with the desire to really see them and be vulnerable in an appropriate and supportive way.