“Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” 
- Joseph Campbell, writer and mythologist

As individuals, we develop different defenses and coping mechanisms to help us deal with what life hands us. These defenses, which we may have adopted as children to protect ourselves, can often become maladaptive in adulthood and can make leading a fulfilling life difficult. As a result, we may feel lost and disconnected from our true essence. In therapy, we are able to peel away these layers of defenses and address the ways in which we are not being honest with ourselves. I believe that people generally begin therapy when they realize that the way they have been coping with life is no longer working, or when life feels too overwhelming to deal with on their own. They want a change, but don’t know how to take the first step. Therapy can help us to move through our pain and disarm the inner critic. Through this process our self-compassion grows and we begin to become more fully our true selves. As we regain a full sense of ourselves, our relationships improve and our lives grow richer with meaning and purpose.

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