~ Nancy McWilliams PhD
We Experience Trauma, Too
Therapists hold layers of complexity, unknowns, joy, empathy, and coping patterns that show up with every client we support. Relationally, our nervous systems experience high levels of social engagement, activation, disconnection, and co-regulation for most of our work week. Many of us chose this field because we want to help others, hold a safe container for change, and offer hope.
Finding a balance of self-care, boundaries, centered presence with our clients, and still showing up IRL with our families and friends is tough. It’s hard to say no, our to-do lists fade into a black hole somewhere in 2029, and our own relational wounds creep up on us at unexpected times when we thought we were “on top of things” (whatever that means).
Holding Eachother
To support ourselves and our clients ethically, we need to continue to strengthen our learning and growth. Along with supervision and consultation, our own therapy is vital to avoiding burnout and practicing with integrity.
I love working with therapists because I love being a therapist.
If you want to show up in your relationships from a more connected place, creating space to cultivate a relationship with YOU comes first. Our work together will explore what comes up for you emotionally, cognitively, and somatically as we navigate how you relate to yourself and your healing. As a dear friend said to me once,
“This work is the whole enchilada!”
Here’s what you can expect from our work together:
- Intention – Working with something you want for yourself gives us a center to guide the work. Are you wanting more presence? Less Anxiety? More balanced energy? Less shut-down?
- Self-Inquiry – Getting to know ourselves more deeply starts with prioritizing space, slowing down in that space, and noticing without judgment what’s happening in our internal experience.
- Self-Compassion – Why is it that it’s soooo much easier to hold empathy for our clients? What beliefs do we unconsciously hold onto that keep us from truly loving and prioritizing ourselves? It’s difficult for self-compassion and shame to exist together, and from a place of trauma, we sometimes choose the shame.
- Capacities and Strengths – What can we build on and develop that already exists? What can we touch into and step out of that feels new?
- Integration and Growth – Once we start to relate to ourselves and our experiences differently, integrating new learning and the pieces of ourselves that got exiled helps us feel more whole and alive.
Ready to start your journey?
Contact me today for your free connection call.