Chronic Illness

Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed in a world built for “healthy” people?

Do you find it challenging to have enough energy to navigate the healthcare system, stay on top of your medications and treatments, and balance all of that with your relationships, job, hobbies, and mental health? Are you overwhelmed by the fear, sadness, loneliness, and exhaustion that comes with living with a chronic illness? 

It might feel hard to:

  • make plans for the near or far future because you don’t know how you will feel at that point

  • explain what it’s like to live with chronic illness to people who don’t get it

  • be honest about your feelings because you have to be “the strong one” or “the positive one” 

  • trust your body because it feels like your body is usually failing or fighting against you 

  • feel connected to your body because of the endless procedures and treatment

  • feel validated in your experience without having to give endless explanations

You’re tired of doing it all on your own and feeling like chronic illness is in the driver seat. I can support you in regaining control.

I am here as someone who also has lived experience with chronic illness to support you in having a different relationship with yourself, be in the driver seat of your life, and feel more confident in your ability to navigate all the ebbs and flows.

My therapy office is not like a medical office. It’s in a converted old home, with a community garden outside the window. It feels comfortable and cozy. 

You and I are collaborators; I’m not here to tell you what you have to do. You already have enough medical professionals and others telling you what to do; I’m here to help you explore your feelings, needs, and desires.

Maintaining your health can take a lot of your energy and focus, but it’s not all of who you are.

Chronic illness therapy can help you:

  • Have a space to feel understood and not alone

  • Learn how to manage stress and overwhelm

  • Explore and express your thoughts and feelings, especially about your health

  • Find ways for you to reconnect to all of who you are, outside of your experiences with chronic illness

  • Learn how to (re)build a safe and caring relationship with your body 

  • Building and strengthening your support system to have support beyond therapy

You can still find great joy and connection even with the challenges of life with chronic illness. 

“Illness and creativity are intertwined: We must reimagine our way of being in the world and with our loved ones.”
— Suleika Jaouad

FAQs

  • Somatic approaches are all about learning how to turn toward your body with curiosity and compassion. This can help you better understand the messages your body is trying to communicate to you and learn your body’s limits. Many people with chronic illness are taught or feel pressure to override the body’s messages in order to do more and try to keep up with peers without chronic illness. But there is almost always a cost for overriding those signals from your body. Somatic approaches can help you learn to better hear those messages and decide how you want to respond to them in a compassionate and caring way.

    There is no right way to live with chronic illness. I believe that somatic approaches hold the key to finding the right way for you to be able to maintain your health while also have a satisfying life.

  • I am more than happy to work with any other providers that you are working with so that your care is well integrated. We can talk about what this could look like and specifically what information would be shared. 

  • Yes, I do! Somatic experiencing can be very helpful in healing medical trauma and finding ways to navigate upcoming procedures with less anxiety. Let’s chat more about if somatic experiencing might be the right approach for you in resolving that trauma.