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 Trauma-informed Depth and Somatic Psychotherapy
for Women and Non-Binary Humans, aged 25 and up.
Serving Illinois and Missouri with Virtual Sessions

Providing virtual psychotherapy for clients located in Illinois and Missouri.​
NEW CLIENT APPOINTMENT HOURS: Tuesday-Thursday 1:00-5:00 only
All sessions are online via secure, HIPAA-compliant video ("Telehealth")

Margaret is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) psychotherapist serving individual, adult women and non-binary folks in Illinois and Missouri via secure Telehealth. Her work is an intersection of somatic and Jungian-influenced depth psychology, HAES-informed, and decolonizing in intention.

Diagnoses I specialize in are:

• ​Anxiety, PTSD, Depression, Adjustment Disorders

Some of the concerns, growth desires, and life areas I work with include:

• Stress, anxiety, post-trauma effects using Depth and Somatic methods and EMDR
  
• EMDR
  
• Dream Work
• Somatic Depth Psychology
• Death and Dying
• Aging, entering the Crone stage of life 
• Disordered eating from an Intuitive Eating, anti-diet culture, fat positive, body positive-informed perspective (NOT focusing on weight loss, and actively anti-diet)
• Body reconnection, embodiment, land reconnection
• Developing ritual and deepening spirituality and nature connection, rewilding
• Sex and gender identity, LGBTQIA+ issues
• Birth trauma (from giving birth) and preparation for birth including homebirth, postpartum challenges
• Compassion fatigue and burnout prevention and recovery for therapists and public servants
• Cult and high-demand group recovery
• Military/Veteran's Issues for Women/Military Sexual Assault

 
PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT TREAT:

• ​OCD, ADHD, Psychoses, Personality Disorders, DID, Autism, Severe Eating Disorders, or Severe Depression

Trauma-informed practice means we take the time to discover what works for each person, at each person's pace, looking to avoid overwhelm and enhance embodiment. All humans in this world have experienced "trauma" -- overwhelming or difficult events that have impacted our nervous systems. Just FYI, it does not mean that we focus on the trauma, nor does it mean this therapy is only or particularly for people with a lot of trauma. We all have trauma. Trauma-informed practice means we are seeing things through that lens, learning how the survival systems work and have kept us alive, and how to help them move back into a sustainable, embodied place. 

We can work with dreams, as well, through a depth, animist, land-connected frame. Dreams can be guides, can help us know and feel what needs attending, for they come to us without the usual, waking-life filters of ego and protection from self-knowledge that can be present while we're awake. Indeed, dreams can bring communication from earth and land allies, well and healed ancestral guides, and our deep unconscious, all of which are invested in our growth and well-being in this life.

My flexible, individualized approach is based on current neurobiology (polyvagal theory) and depth psychology, & includes somatic, psychodynamic, cognitive, and dream work. The space we create together is LGBTQ+ affirming, anti-racist, anti-misogynistic. 

I work to recognize all forms of privilege that influence my experience of the world, including white and colonizer privilege, and am actively engaged in my own work, which includes cultivating the willingness to listen, introspect, and integrate somatically. I also acknowledge that as a cis-presenting woman I am subject to systemic oppressions, including misogyny.  

To the best of my knowledge I am physically located on the rightful ancestral lands of the Illini, Osage, and Shawnee.. To the best of my knowledge my beloved ancestors primarily immigrated to this land between the early 1600s to the late 1800s from what are now known as: England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland, with DNA and family reports variously and intermittently showing small amounts of Native/Indigenous American.

Somatic Psychotherapy

​Somatic psychotherapy is a non-touch, body-based method used in conjunction with talk therapy to bring the body back into awareness, learn to be with the emotions compassionately, and gently release trauma from the body in an experiential way. This is a body/mind modality based in current neuroscience, and grounded in our connection with the land and our bodies. More here.

Dream Work, Depth & Archetypal Psychotherapy

  We are a part of nature and the land, of the deep and ancient stories that live in it, whether we know it consciously or not. When we become separated from our sense of place, nature, and the land, we become separated from ourselves, as well. ​Nature, dreams, archetype, image, connection. More here.

EMDR

 Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy is a robust, evidence-based method that uses eye movements to work deeply in neural networks to reprocess difficult or traumatic events. I am a trained EMDR Therapist, with additional training in Attachment-Focused EMDR by Laurell Parnell.  More here.

We're living in some pretty anxiety-producing times. Trauma-sensitive therapy can be a beneficial calm point in the storm, where you know you'll be heard. Trauma-sensitivity in therapy means that we take the time to discover what works for you, that we meet as equals, and that we're aware of the kind of colonizer dynamics and systems that undermine wellbeing. We work together at a gentle pace, taking care to not become overwhelmed. We don't dive right in to the most difficult life events, but instead lay a foundation of self-regulation and resilience, first, developing skills and establishing the therapeutic relationship.

My work with women is about finding connection with our own inner wisdom; remembering belonging and connection through the land, history, and dreams; understanding how we feel and function in the context of the social systems we live within; connecting to our purpose in this life; and recovering from trauma, anxiety, and PTSD. 

I'd love to welcome you to our therapeutic space, as would my co-therapist, Nya (the Dog). My flexible, individualized approach is based on current neurobiology (polyvagal theory) and depth psychology, & includes somatic, psychodynamic, cognitive, dream work, and EMDR. LGBTQ+ affirming, non-racist, non-misogynist, anti-colonial. Plus, I'm a veteran. 

Therapists have varying philosophies, trainings, and ways of working. When choosing a therapist it's a good idea to find out what their philosophy and training is, meet them in person, and then decide for yourself if it's a good fit for you.

I work with a whole person approach: conscious thought, unconscious thought and images, emotion, and body sensation; individual psyche and the person in the environment (home, family, work, and all levels of community). I acknowledge and observe that systemic racism, misogyny, and wealth inequality have profound impacts on communities and individuals, and create stress that causes anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other difficulties and suffering. It is important to address those, as well as what's held in the body, and that the deeper self, the unconscious, is vital to our growth, integration, individuation, and experience of life. This is how our strongest, deepest, innate healing systems are activated. It is my approach that every person has innate healing capacities and wholeness within themselves, that everyone's path is different, and that my job is to help people gain the insight and confidence to access and activate theirs.

Similarly, sometimes a therapist will recommend a client see a different therapist. Every good therapist wants to make sure that what each client is dealing with is within their areas of expertise. If not, the therapist will provide a referral to another practitioner. It can also happen that what a client or potential client is dealing with is too activating of a therapist's own past trauma for that therapist to be effective within that therapeutic relationship. The best therapists know how to recognize their own limitations, and refer a client to someone else who can better help them when that happens. While we do like a challenge, no one can provide optimum care for every person in every scenario. And a therapist who takes care of themselves, including having their own therapy regularly, is going to be able to be more present for their clients. Learning and respecting our own human limits is part of that self care.

Please note: Nya the Dog will be in session with us. If you're allergic to dogs that might not work for you. If you love dogs it might be awesome!
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Image Copyright (c) Pearl, 2016

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