“Story is the umbilical cord that connects us to the past, present, and future. Story is a relationship between the teller and the listener. Story is an affirmation of our ties to one another.”
— Terry Tempest Williams
What is Narrative Therapy?
Stories are remarkably important. The process of weaving our life experiences together into a cohesive, organized, sequential package comes very naturally to us. Stories are how we make sense of our experiences, our relationships, and our behaviours. As human beings, we are innately wired for storytelling. In fact, research in neuroscience confirms that our brains need to create stories in order to integrate the world around us.
But sometimes, the stories we hold on to are overrun with unhelpful and disempowering assumptions about ourselves. Sometimes trauma has a hand in writing our stories. Sometimes we let labels, or expectations, or diagnoses take authorship. Though grief, loss, conflict, and fear can all exist within our narratives, they don’t need to control the plot completely.
In Narrative Therapy, we work to first identify the stories we’ve been telling ourselves (often without even knowing it) and then explore the ways that this story may in fact be hurting us. Then, we draft our next chapter; one that better reflects who we are, and how we want to live.
What does it mean to be trauma-informed?
To be trauma-informed is to acknowledge that in order to be truly helpful to someone in need, a complete picture of a person’s life — past and present — must be considered. In trauma-informed practice, we no longer ask what’s wrong with our clients, but rather what’s happened to our clients.
Looking through this lens of compassion, we are able to better understand different paths to recovery, and find ways to work with our clients without risk of retraumatization. As a trauma-informed practitioner, I try to approach this work with intention, kindness, and a commitment to non-judgement, which are all, to me, essential ingredients in a strong and effective therapeutic relationship.
Key Areas of Perinatal Practice
Reproductive
Mental Health
Wanting a child but not being able to have that child — either yet, ever, or just not in the way you wish you could — can be immeasurably upsetting. Miscarriage, unexplained infertility, or the need for medical intervention in order to conceive can leave us with feelings of grief, shame, resentment, anger, and loneliness. Sometimes, on top of these feelings, we experience guilt for even having these feelings, which just makes the it all feel even more complex or insurmountable. Up to 20% of women will experience a miscarriage, and 1 in 6 will struggle with infertility, but we do not have to go through this alone. We can find ways to cope, ways to better articulate our pain, ways to better communicate with those around us, and ways to acknowledge our grief without getting lost in it.
Gestational Mental Health
Some women say that carrying a child has been their life’s greatest joy. That glow people talk about? These women have it. And it’s truly beautiful to see. But then there are those who do not feel so radiant. Those who experience a different kind of pregnancy all together. One filled with anxiety, and worry, and discomfort of both the physical and emotional kind. Are you one of those women? Maybe you’ve experienced traumatic birth? Maybe there have been pregnancy losses in your past? Maybe there are conflicts in the home that make you fearful about introducing a child into the mix? Maybe the current state of the world has you feeling uneasy about ushering new life into it? Maybe you weren’t properly nurtured yourself, and worry that this might prevent you from nurturing another? Nine-months is a long time to be carrying these burdens alone. Let’s work together to understand your concerns, worries, and feelings to ensure the best possible pregnancy experience for you, your little one, and your growing family.
Postpartum+ Mental Health
Up to 20% of women in North America will suffer from a postpartum mood disorder, and a reported 80% of women will experience low mood and heightened anxiety in the first few weeks of motherhood. On top of this, the demands of parenting in those first few years — the lack of sleep, the inability to prioritize ourselves as we once did, the changes in our bodies and our routines, maybe even the changes in the dynamic with our significant others — can all weigh heavily on our hearts and minds, and wreak havoc on our sense of self. Some of us may grieve the person we were before children, others may come resent our partners for what we see as an unfair share of the load. Maybe we are struggling to bond with our little ones, and this can fill us with shame, worry, and fear. Add to this a global pandemic, and the experience of isolation increases exponentially. Reaching out for support in this very fragile time can mean the difference between surviving and thriving in this season of life, and I offer a safe, compassionate, and confidential space to do this.