Ryan Dykes (he/him)

I believe that each person is the expert of their own experiences and has their own unique strengths and abilities. My role as a therapist is to create a safe and nonjudgmental space to build on those strengths as well as to provide new tools and insight. Everyone has an inner voice that guides them, and I help remove the blocks so that you can listen to that voice more closely. I am gentle, open, and curious. I will not tell you what to do, but I will challenge you to think differently and try new approaches. I will also help you explore your feelings and discover what you really want. I will fully see you for who you are, and I will honor that. I work creatively and collaboratively. I believe that each of us defines our own reality and that life is best lived when we can create our own rules and expectations. I acknowledge your inherent worth. I work from the premise that we can always grow and know ourselves better and that we are happiest when we feel more connected.

I grew up in a very small town in the South, and I knew early on that I was different. Throughout my upbringing, I felt a disconnect, and I learned that I needed to become a chameleon in order to fit in…someone who could adapt to what others wanted me to be. But in this process, I lost parts of myself, and I suffered because I was not listening to my true wants and needs. This experience taught me what it felt like to be an outsider and to feel like you have to change yourself to make others happy. Throughout my life, I have learned (and had to relearn) how to embrace my uniqueness and my sensitivity as my greatest strengths. Even though these traits sometimes feel like burdens, they are actually the parts of myself that allow me to contribute to the world and to connect with others. I became a therapist to help others stop diminishing themselves and fully own who they are and what they want. There is no one way that anyone is “supposed” to be.