About Me
I'm Kathleen! I live in Philadelphia, and in addition to being a therapist, I'm a mother to a little kiddo who I adore. I enjoy watercolor painting, and particularly like to paint what I think of as "underappreciated animals" such as insects. I am a nature lover and caring for the environment is something I value deeply. I seek to incorporate these values into my work through walk-and-talk therapy at the Wissahickon and by welcoming ecological grief and anxiety into the therapy space. I enjoy reading and learning, and I am endlessly interested in learning about counseling-related things, such as counseling theories, ethics, etc. I see therapy as an art of the most beautiful nature, where the client and I together explore the beauty and complexity of their inner world until it comes together in new, hopeful and unexpected ways. I'm consistently amazed and honored by the opportunity to bear witness as people unfold and grow into who they truly are.
My Approach
The approach to counseling I draw from most is called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In a nutshell, ACT involves helping you become more grounded in who you truly are and what you care about rather than what you fear or what you've always done (habits/reactions).
Most of us have loud inner critics or discouraging inner voices with a lot of power over what we do. And, most of us relate to those inner critics and our difficult emotions in predictable ways--we argue/fight with ourselves and we avoid difficult feelings. This is normal! But it's not usually that helpful. And there are more effective strategies you can use to relate to your thoughts and feelings that empower you, free you and help you find relief.
In therapy, we will work on giving up the tactics that don’t work on your emotions and instead take up the strategies that foster your emotional growth and resilience. Functionally, this means we’ll relate to your emotions very differently than your mind usually attempts to, moving towards rather than away from the feelings you fear. And while it may feel scary or counterintuitive at first, once you get the hang of it most people find this process to be freeing, enlightening and like a huge relief.
If you’re like many of my clients, in this process you’ll discover that you’ve been playing roles and wearing masks that don’t actually fit you anymore. And you’ll start to relax, finding new ways of being simply and authentically “you” that free you up from the tension you’ve been living in for so long.