You are not alone

Being at peace with yourself can be a terrible struggle, especially when your life feels so very different from those around you. 

You’ve been made to feel you don’t measure up – physically, mentally, or socially.

Maybe stress, confusion, sadness, fear, or grief are casting a dark shadow over your life, while everyone around you seems happy and oblivious to your pain. Maybe you’ve experienced devastating loss or trauma, and those around you just keep telling you to “suck it up” or “get over it,” even though you still feel like you’re drowning. Maybe your body doesn’t fit our culture’s impossible ideals, or reflect who you know you are in your heart. Maybe you or a family member are living with a disability. Maybe you’ve been mistreated, abused, or denied equal treatment because of your race, your gender, or your sexuality. Maybe your family is from a culture or religion very different than others around you, and you feel torn between your family’s ways and those of your peers and colleagues. 

You might be feeling devastated by others’ subtle (or not-so-subtle) judgments – or worse, by their well-intentioned but harmful attempts to “help” without understanding your needs. Perhaps you feel isolated, misunderstood, and alone among people whose lives seem so much simpler. Perhaps others have violated your boundaries, turned their backs on you, or treated you in abusive ways, and then blamed their behaviour on you.

Perhaps you’ve grown so used to being treated badly that you’ve learned to blame yourself, or fear you are broken and unloveable. You’ve become your own worst enemy, because bullying yourself first is safer than waiting for others to do it. Maybe you’ve coped by focusing on others’ wishes and needs as a way of blending in, and finding purpose – but in doing so you’ve lost yourself.

Or maybe you just need someone to talk to. Someone who will listen, help you to feel safe and seen, and offer kindness and support as you find your way forward.

You are not alone. As a registered psychologist, I offer individual adult psychotherapy to help navigate these difficulties.