This kind of deep sadness contains within it a message, a part of your self that is longing to be heard but not getting through. In our culture which emphasizes productivity, “good vibes only”, and simplicity, that message can be hard to find. Therapy provides a space for courageous exploration and listening where this kind of message can be heard. While it doesn’t feel like it, depression is often an indicator that your vitality is trying to emerge — your psyche is making an effort to transform but getting stuck along the way. Something is out of alignment. When witnessed and addressed, this sadness has potential to release vitality and life-force that allows for growth and emergence of self.

Sensitivity. Awareness of all the possibilities at once. A sense of fearing—or knowing—that something uncomfortable, painful, or downright dangerous is going to happen. A need to stay alert should one of these things prove true; “What if?”…

These are reasonable, protective habits to form in our world. And, they are often not the best tools to approach our day-to-day lives. In time, you might experience chronic stress, exhaustion, and trouble accessing more expansive states of being. Anxiety is a self-sustaining loop of thought designed to keep us safe. Honoring that intention (and validating its concerns) while focusing our awareness on the present moment can help us soothe some of this patterning, and jump off the treadmill.

When you are in the in-between (whether it’s relationships, jobs, locations, emergent parts of your identity), so much of our patterning comes out to play. How do you relate to yourself when you’re changing? The boundaries between what is known and unknown become blurry, our touch points and sense of safety is threatened. Urgency might come through with its good intentions (and challenging delivery), or perhaps a sense of discouragement and an urge to give up. But piece by piece your growth continues, and the voice within you gets stronger. Awareness along the way can help you make conscious decisions, grieve what you leave behind, and move forward with more integration.

Common terms like “anxiety” and “depression” are helpful to support communication, but using a word for them also means that they can become abstract concepts, and some nuance can get lost. I want to know the unique alchemy of your emotional experience, and what it means to you.

And, if you have other common terms to express the kinds of things you’d like to work on — great! Let’s get into it.