Tom @ the mend

I am a licensed clinical social worker associate with nearly a decade of experience working with attachment and trauma. In short, that means I believe our stories matter. The content of our thoughts, the textures of our emotions, the quality of our relationships and life are things I’m curious about. I think there is nothing more meaningful that how we putz around on this planet and we should have space to tend to this experience. 

I offer a space where you can be the heavy and the light. Our sessions can hold grief and anger and uncertainty as well as laughter and calm. I see therapy as a creative process guided by curiosity, tenderness, and challenge that brings us to new understandings of ourselves and others. 

I work with clients experiencing emotional suppression, anger, relationship difficulties, grief, trauma, depression, and anxiety. I work with individuals and couples. I particularly enjoy the work I do with those who identify as caregivers -whether it is a profession or a role. I often support parents and co-parents to understand the complexity of being in a caring relationship that may bring up difficult feelings and beliefs from their own pasts. I welcome and encourage new dads to join this process as they embark on one of the most important roles of their lives. 

I approach therapy with the following beliefs:

· Our connection with ourselves, others, and the more-than-human world are powerful antidotes to despair.

· Therapy is a collaborative process that is founded on your innate wisdom and experiences.

· Tending to grief and loss is a vital part of how we live and move forward with our lives.

· Our emotions communicate important messages to us.

· Our pasts often hold the story of our present and future.

· Sometimes it isn’t the answers we need to discover, but the uncertainty we learn to accept.

· Rather than symptoms to remove, I see our experiences as opportunities to learn something essential to us. 

When I’m not a therapist, I enjoy hiking and backpacking in our mountains with my dirt-covered toddler. I putz around doing greenwood carvings, running, and trying to waste my time in ways that bring meaning and fulfillment to the minutes and hours.