There was a time when you were not a slave. Remember that. You walked alone, full of laughter, you bathed full-bellied…. You say there are no words to describe this time, you say it does not exist. But remember. Make an effort to remember. Or, failing that, invent.

—Monique Wittig, Les Guérillères

Clinical Practice and Philosophy

What are the questions that you have in your life? About being alive in this time? What will your legacy be to those who will come after you? What do you owe to your ancestors? Ancestors are not only our biological lineage, but also the communities and elders we come from—some intimately known to us, others only a whisper in the embodied experiences we witness in those with whom we share emotional, physical, and community space. 

What is the story of your movement and migration through land and time? What are the stories of your families? Who have you loved? How have you been affected by forces and enactments of colonizations, migrations, or violence? How have you maintained or lost connections? How have the expressions of your love and attachments changed over time?

The Clinical Relationship

The psychotherapy that I practice integrates relational, feminist, psychodynamic psychology, and post-modern and queer theories with body-centered practices. Some of those practices may, when appropriate, enter into the psychotherapy relationship through work with movement, gesture, posture, touch, or vocalizations. We may work with dreams, fantasies, family stories and histories, and relationship patterns, while noticing and exploring the feelings and sensations which arise. 

This somatic psychotherapy is different from conventional modes of “bodywork” because the focus is psychotherapeutically based, that is, based on understanding, integrating, and making conscious the unconscious experiences of body and psyche. We look closely at and feel into the relationship between the therapist and client, holding as paramount the belief that healing happens in relationships.

Social Bodies

Especially for women, queer people, people of color, and other people marginalized by dominant power paradigms, the body is often a site of cultural dislocation and dissociation. Cultures and families inscribe themselves not only on our psyches, but also on our bodies. And for those of us who move between merely surviving in dominant cultures and flourishing in chosen communities, families, and created spaces, the body bears witness to that tension and movement, often manifesting in anxiety, depression, hopelessness, illness, and a sense of being disconnected from one’s full experience. 

By working directly with the cultural messages and lessons that have been integrated—often unconsciously—onto the body and psyche, we can begin to create new stories, meanings, and choices about being members of our communities and cultures.