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Welcome to Existential Narrative Therapy: Where Story Meets Meaning, and Presence Holds the Space

Finding Balance in an Unbalanced World: How to Check in With Your Whole Self

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Some days it feels like life is running you instead of you running life. Work pulls one way, family pulls another, and your body and emotions are left somewhere in between wondering, “When do I catch my breath?” You’re not alone. We live in a world that’s noisy, busy, and—let’s be honest—often unbalanced. That’s why I want to talk about something that sounds simple but is deeply powerful: checking in with your whole self . Not just your mental health, not just your physical health, but your whole wellness—because you are more than one part of you. Why “Whole Person” Wellness? In therapy, I see this all the time: a client comes in because they feel anxious or overwhelmed. They want the anxiety gone (which makes sense), but what we uncover is that their anxiety is connected to a dozen things: lack of sleep, relationship stress, feeling disconnected from what gives them meaning, or simply not having any downtime to breathe. This is where the eight dimensions of wellness come in. It’s...
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When Grief Changes Everything: Making Space for Loss and Hope

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  Grief is one of those experiences that changes you at your core. It’s not just about missing someone or something you loved—it’s about how life feels different after it. Things that used to feel solid suddenly feel fragile. Even the way we see ourselves and our future can shift. I’ve seen this both personally and through my work in a mortuary setting. Standing with families as they say goodbye, I’ve seen how grief reshapes life in ways you can’t fully understand until you’re standing in it yourself. It’s messy, it’s unpredictable, and it often doesn’t look like what we expected. Grief Isn’t Something to “Get Over” One of the hardest parts of grief is the pressure to move on or “be strong.” But grief doesn’t work on a timeline. It’s not a problem to solve—it’s an experience to be carried, one day at a time. Healing doesn’t mean forgetting. It doesn’t mean things go back to how they were. In therapy, I often remind clients: You’re not broken—you’re hurting. And hurting is a na...
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Your Story Matters: How Narrative Therapy Helps You Reclaim Your Voice

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  We all carry stories. Some we’ve told a thousand times. Some we keep locked up because they feel too heavy or messy to share. And then there are those silent ones—the ones that quietly shape how we see ourselves without us even realizing it. I know this because I’ve lived it. We all have. You Are Not Just Your Past Here’s something I tell my clients often: “You are not who others say you are. You are who you choose to be.” But here’s the tricky part—sometimes the stories we’ve been handed feel like they’re carved into stone: I’m not enough. I always fail. I have to carry everything alone. I don’t know who I am without this pain. Those stories feel true, even when they aren’t. They can leave us feeling stuck, unseen, or like life has already decided our ending for us. So, What Is Narrative Therapy? Think of it like this: Narrative therapy is about stepping back and asking, “Whose voice is this? Where did this story even come from? And do I still want to keep living by ...
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Your Nervous System Isn’t Broken—It’s Trying to Keep You Safe

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Have you ever had a moment where your heart raced, your chest tightened, or your stomach dropped—and it felt like it came out of nowhere? Maybe you snapped at someone you love, froze in place when you wanted to speak up, or felt like you had to keep the peace even when you were hurting. Here’s the thing: you’re not broken. Your nervous system is doing exactly what it was designed to do— keep you safe. Fight, Flight, Freeze… and Fawn Most of us know about fight (getting angry or defensive) and flight (avoiding, shutting down, or running from stress). But there are two other common stress responses: Freeze – feeling numb, stuck, or unable to respond. Fawn – people-pleasing to avoid conflict or danger. These reactions come from one of the oldest systems in our body—our autonomic nervous system. It constantly scans our environment for cues of safety or danger, even when we aren’t aware of it. Polyvagal Theory (Made Simple) A framework called polyvagal theory helps explain...
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More Than the Mind: Why Whole-Person Healing Matters

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When most people think about “getting healthy,” they often picture working out, eating better, or maybe reducing stress. But what if I told you that health isn’t just about your body—or even just your mind? It’s about the whole person. The Eight Dimensions of Wellness The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines eight key dimensions of wellness: Emotional – How you cope with life, stress, and emotions. Physical – Your physical health, sleep, movement, and nutrition. Intellectual – Engaging in learning and creativity. Social – Your connections and support systems. Spiritual – A sense of meaning and purpose. Environmental – The spaces where you live, work, and rest. Financial – Feeling secure and stable with money. Occupational – Satisfaction and balance in your work or daily roles. Each of these areas is connected. When one is off-balance, it affects the others. For example, stress at work (occupational) can impact ...
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What’s on the Shelf Isn’t Always the Tool

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Therapy tools aren’t always still. They aren’t just books on a shelf or worksheets in a binder. Sometimes, they’re a miniature car held between fingers, or a tiny plastic ladder placed with intention into soft, forgiving sand. This week, I practiced my SandTray skills with the help of one of my favorite people—my daughter, who’s now in college and generously offered her time (and patience) to be part of my learning process. It was humbling. And also deeply meaningful. As a mental health counseling intern, I’m expanding my toolkit every day—not just in theory, but in lived practice. I’ve learned that creating safe, symbolic spaces isn’t just for the client’s benefit—it helps me slow down, stay curious, and hold space for what words can’t always capture. SandTray therapy may look like play… But it’s more than that. It’s storytelling in motion. It’s metaphor, memory, and meaning unfolding in real time. It’s giving someone a chance to explore their world with their hands when ...
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What Makes Us Irreplaceable

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  This quote hit me like a deep breath I didn’t know I needed.  It came from a reflection in one of my courses—Frankl’s Logotherapy—and reminded me of something I often forget: That our imperfections, limitations, and life experiences aren’t barriers to meaning.  They are the meaning. What Makes Me… Me I’ve lived most of my life with a quiet awareness of something I rarely speak about: I have dyslexia. It’s subtle. It shows up more when I’m tired or under stress. But it’s been part of my story since elementary school—when I used to be pulled from class to get extra support. I used to see it as a weakness. Now I see it as part of the lens that makes me me . A 2019 study showed that 35% of U.S. entrepreneurs are dyslexic. Why? Because they see things differently. They problem-solve differently. They approach the puzzle of the world from multiple angles. Reading that, I thought: Maybe that’s why I do what I do the way I do it. I don’t just play “devil’s advocate.” I conside...
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