Tricia Grudens (she/her)

In a society that profits off its constituents feeling insecure and inadequate, it is no wonder so many of us fight for the enticing but unachievable goal of perfectionism. The slew of negative messages (from media, mostly) constantly bombarding us very often make us turn to our bodies and make us question the very own skin we live in. What's up with that? Well, I get it. I really do. And you have the power within you to accept the body you're in. So let's figure it out, together.

Anxiety is a huge umbrella word that looks a bit different on everyone. However, there is definite community in the general feeling of it. It's easy to feel like the world's falling apart, especially when it already feels like life has handed us an 'unfair' set of cards to manage. We may not be able to control every situation that feeds into our anxiety, but we can learn to control our responses to those situations. There's power in that. Now, take a deep breath and remember that you're strong!!

MBCT is like CBT, but with incorporated mindfulness practices. One of the main focuses of this orientation is the client learning to become more aware of their thoughts and feelings, and then consciously choosing a new way to live with them. I have found this approach to be particularly helpful with folx who are experiencing medical illness/pain.

Good old CBT! This approach is probably the most common, and it primarily involves working on finding a new way to think and behave. We can all get caught up in default patterns of thinking that are not so helpful to us, but this therapy gives us the tools to challenge these maladaptive patterns and actively change them. It's pretty cool!

I don't believe in denial helping anyone. We all live in a world that provides happiness as well as sadness. Therefore, a wide range of thought and feeling experience is healthy. ACT is about learning that the suppression of "negative" emotions is a bandage that cannot last forever, so instead learning to accept the spectrum of emotions that lives within us, and learning to move forward with greater confidence and understanding.