Throughout my life, one idea, one belief, one truth, has guided how I try to see and move through the world. That maxim, “all people possess the innate ability for change”, is a North Star in all aspects of my life, and my approach to therapy is one of them. The very idea behind the name of my practice, “Petrichor Counseling”, echoes that same sentiment. Petrichor, or the smell of fresh rain on dry earth is -in other words- a snappy name to describe the fundamental processes of nature, growth and change. When rain falls to the Earth, it waters the ground, providing the nourishment for new life to grow. That life, whether it be the moss on the stone, the vines in the tree or the grass in the field, is just as much the product of that same process of growth and change, as the smell of Petrichor that rises from the Earth.

Unsurprisingly then, the concepts of growth and change are core to my approach to counseling. We all come to therapy, whether we’re the therapist or the client, as the sum of all our past experiences, hopes, dreams, wins, and losses. The good and the bad are both represented in our everyday life, so why shouldn’t they show up in our therapy? I approach therapy through what’s called an eclectic approach, meaning I make use of multiple schools of therapeutic thought in my counseling work.

One such school is that of Strengths-Based Positive Psychology (SBPP), an evidence-based technique that takes the time to examine what’s going wrong in your life, and how we can use what’s already going right, in order to make the changes you want to see. According to SBPP, you already have the tools to make the change and see the growth you want in your life, it’s just a matter of us putting the pieces together.

I also use Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), an approach which emphasizes the ability to grow to a point of acceptance for all the events of our life story, be they good or bad, while also learning how to take the emotions we feel everyday and use them in a way that helps us, rather than holds us back.

For those moments of our life story that still linger, the traumatic memories of childhood, a past relationship, or any other disaster or tragic event, I use Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), a proven therapy technique that allows us to reclaim our power and agency from the events of our life we’ve struggled to shake off. We aren’t going to forget those past experiences, but we will grow from them, and recognize our ability to change for the better, no matter what life has thrown our way.

If any of this sounds helpful, please don’t hesitate to reach out, either by email, or by clicking the “Book Now” button, and make an appointment for a free, 15min. consultation call. There we’ll talk about what brings you to counseling, what you’re hoping to gain from therapy, and any questions you may have for me. I look forward to hearing from you, thanks.