What I Believe
While every single one of us is born whole, life can sometimes chip away at our wholeness. Many of us come to experience this at some point in life, perhaps as a result of feeling despair, dissatisfaction, emptiness, or some kind of lack. Some of us may feel called to find our way back “home,” to ourselves, or to something greater yet unknown. By reconnecting with all aspects of our humanity — our capacities to know and be known, love and be loved, hate and be hated, to learn, grow, create, play, and be — we give ourselves the opportunity to have a genuine encounter with our mind, heart, body and spirit.
I believe the process of therapy can support our journeys back to wholeness.
When we surrender ourselves to the therapeutic process, we may find greater clarity, connection, creativity, courage and compassion, though not without some growing pains along the way. While therapy is often thought of as a resource that will make us feel better, it’s perhaps more accurate to say that therapy allows us to better feel. It can deepen and expand our capacity to experience what life has to offer, restore previously rejected or forgotten parts of ourselves, and help us find meaning where there previously was none. Therapy offers us a way to be both the protagonist and the storyteller, re-storying our lives as it continues to unfold.
“I want to unfold. I don’t want to stay folded anywhere, because where I am folded, there I am untrue.”
How I Work
There is good evidence to suggest that the single most important indicator for therapy’s efficacy is the alliance established between you and your therapist. Beyond that, what happens in the room is often a collaboration — a unique recipe co-created according to your needs and preferences and the therapist’s orientation and experience.
Therapy is not easy. It asks you to open up, explore, examine and gradually let go of familiar patterns, behaviors, and beliefs that may no longer be serving you, so that you can experiment with new ways of relating and being. Progress doesn’t always come easily, nor quickly. And it is rarely linear. It may at times feel as though you’re rehashing the same issue over and over again. But if therapy is working, you’ll be revisiting the same issue with greater awareness, agency and confidence.
Together, we’ll give care and attention to your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual life — including your fantasies and dreams — as well as your place in the world. My aim is to provide an environment where you feel comfortable enough to bring in and express all parts of yourself, and to find and maintain the sweet spot between supporting you and challenging you. Below are four pillars that shape how I work:
Depth-Oriented
Bringing that which may be unconscious or out of awareness into conscious awareness to generate agency, choice, empowerment and meaning
Relational
Allowing the therapeutic relationship to illuminate how you relate to yourself and others in order to explore and experiment with different ways of relating and being
Somatic & Experiential
Listening to the body’s wisdom through mindfulness, guided visualization and somatic exploration to better understand the relationships between mind, body, heart and spirit
Trauma-Responsive & Liberatory
Remembering and reclaiming forgotten memories and rituals—both individual and collective—to acknowledge how the past informs but does not define who you are
Who I See
Therapy is for anyone who has at any point in their lives experienced ambivalence, confusion, discomfort, joy, loneliness, love, pain, pleasure, rage, rejection, shame, sorrow, stagnation, uncertainty and/or loss. Chances are, if you identify as human, then therapy is for you.
The field and business of therapy — historically-speaking — has not always been supportive or accessible to those underestimated and marginalized by society. Because of this, I center the experiences of Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC), as well as 1st and 2nd generation immigrants. I hold a deep appreciation for multicultural experience and wisdom, and welcome people from all intersections of identity to work with me.
It is deeply meaningful for me to accompany people who have undergone or are undergoing chaotic, confusing or painful life experiences and feel called towards change. I am honored to be able to accompany children, adults, couples and families as they move through their struggles into more ease, intimacy, playfulness and satisfaction, and to witness them as they begin to embody more compassion for themselves and their loved ones.
“You are only free when you realize you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all.
The price is high. The reward is great.”
Meet Renee
Growing up as an immigrant in the US and living in divergent cultures developed within me a sensitivity towards and passion for working with those who feel themselves at the margins of society and in their own life. An important part of my personal journey has been reclaiming my disavowed parts, identities and relationships, and developing a reverence for them. I am adept at walking between worlds, holding multiple perspectives, and bridging people, cultures and ideologies. I enjoy accompanying those who feel caught in-between — between fantasy and reality, heart and mind, dark and light, old and new, East and West.
How I listen to you is informed by my own experiences as an immigrant, a woman of color, an ex-pat and what queer activist, feminist and writer Gloria Anzaldúa calls a "citizen of the universe.” I also have 10+ years of contemplative practice in mindfulness, yoga, Vipassana and other Buddhist traditions that influence how I work and view the world.
My style is warm, open, engaged, thoughtful and unhurried. I listen—concretely and symbolically—to what's said and unsaid, what's felt and not felt, what's remembered and what's been forgotten. I use a signature cocktail of humor and honesty to both support and challenge you. I see symptoms (depression, anxiety, addictions, insomnia, etc.) as normal responses to abnormal circumstances, and believe our wounds have the potential to lead us to greater wisdom, creativity and aliveness.
In addition to being a therapist, I am a writer, avid book and stationary collector, traveler and mother. My work as a therapist has been influenced and enriched by all of my life experiences, and my work with clients have greatly enhanced and enriched my life.
Let’s Chat
Curious about working together? Reach out below to schedule a free 15-minute phone or video consultation.
