Get to Know Kate
Therapist in Austin, TX

Parenthood, what a wonderful thing to experience. Easy to say before you become a parent! After becoming a parent it can feel like living in a constantly chaotic house where your kids are suddenly speaking to you in a language you don't seem to understand and their emotions only get bigger. Have you caught yourself thinking, what am I doing wrong? I’m a bad parent! I can’t do this! Well good news, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Parenting today is not at all what it used to be. Have you heard that old saying “it takes a village to raise a child”? That included the support of grandparents, uncles, aunts, or even long-time neighbors. That is not our reality today. Today, many of us don’t have such a close support system to help raise our children. We may not even have the best relationship with our own family, leaving us without that extended “village” network of support.  Even when being stay-at-home moms, the social expectations have definitely increased. Not to mention being a full-time parent while being a full-time worker, the expectation of being the “best” parent, giving “everything” to the kids, co-parenting, and as the cherry on top, understanding your child! If any of these sounds familiar, then you know that parenting is tough, exhausting, and complicated.

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I would like you to think of therapy as going on a road trip. You can leave behind ideas of what “a good parent should be” and set off on the journey to redefine your approach to parenting. As we travel the rocky roads of old beliefs, we will make room for new routes.. There will be many twists and turns along the way. You might even feel scared of the road ahead, but you can rest assured. I will be your trusty GPS, guiding you along your unique parenting journey. I will help you to comprehend that foreign language that your kiddo is speaking, regardless of their age or emotional challenges, and build the close, loving relationship that you pictured when you first held them as a baby.  

For me, anxiety is like being at a carnival when you hate the rides, and a stranger convinced you that it was a good idea to ride the biggest roller coaster there! While you want to say no, you find yourself already in line, and you begin to feel your body stressing. Your heart is going to pound out of your chest, it’s getting harder to take a deep breath. Your stomach is in knots, your palms are sweatier than they have ever been and your vision is narrowing. It's so overwhelming that you feel the urge to scream! You make an incredible effort to run out of the line, but you are already buckled up in the ride, and it is too late to get out. As the ride begins moving, you repeatedly think "I'm not going to be able to make it.” The fear and uncertainty about how the ride is going to end, and feeling you are not brave enough to manage everything that is happening, takes over. When everything finally comes to a slow stop at the end of the ride, you think to yourself “I don't want to feel this again!,” but before long you find yourself in another line for another anxious ride!

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Feeling out of control of your own worried thoughts is exhausting. Anxiety creates, what seems like, an endless cycle of panic and fear. You find yourself constantly bouncing between experiencing intense and overwhelming panic emotions and body sensations and then ruminating how horrible it was to go through a panic attack. You try to avoid the next panic attack by avoiding all things that might make you anxious or even trying to make it look like you have it all together. You find yourself hiding what is going on from friends and family so they don't see how much you are suffering  - you do not want to deal with people telling you to “stop overreacting” or to "calm down." The pain of anxiety is only made worse by the self-criticisms that make you think you are “weak” or “defective” because you can’t beat it. As you know, anxiety not only takes control of your thoughts, it takes control of your emotions, it takes control of your body, and sadly, can take control of your life, if you don’t address it. 

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Through a collaborative process, we can work to understand what is triggering your anxiety and learn strategies for coping and managing both internal and external experiences. I can help you learn to own your mind and body and take charge of your life. I will help you learn that "feeling anxious" is not the same as "living with anxiety". Let's lose the fear of anxiety and work towards a healthy way of living with anxiety and creating a life that is not exhausting, but exhilarating - or even one that makes you content.

Surviving a painful situation changes you emotionally, physically, and socially, making it difficult to break free from the moments where it felt like your whole being was shattered into pieces. These experiences halt your ability to function and create constant hopelessness. You may have lived a life filled with so many negative experiences that you don't know if there can be anything else outside of your pain. 

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You are here, so I know that you are recognizing that something needs to change.

Some view trauma as a "terrible" experience that someone went through. Personally, I view trauma as not uniquely about "what happened," but how you processed the experiences that you went through. Because of the misconception that trauma is something terrible, many of us tend to invalidate our own experiences by saying, "that wasn't so bad" or "other people have experienced worse." Signs like irritability, feeling overwhelmed, losing control, engaging in risky behaviors, or are constantly in alarm mode, are signals that you might be coping with trauma. If you frequently think about and relive past painful experiences, lose sight of the future because you are stuck in the past, you may be struggling to effectively cope with your past experiences of trauma.

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Navigating trauma involves delving into those deeply encoded experiences that hinder your present and future. It's a collaborative journey where we acknowledge and validate your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I understand how confronting painful memories can evoke shame, discomfort, embarrassment, and an urgent desire to avoid. But let me ask you, would you sleep in a room with a dead rat under the carpet? Just because you don't see the rat, does that mean you can't smell it? Trauma, much like a covered up rat in a room, affects us whether we acknowledge it or not. It impacts our daily life, unseen but profoundly felt. However, you don't have to feel trapped by your past. I'm here to meet you where you are, guiding you through your past until we uncover new perspectives. Embracing new outlooks begins the process of liberation from pain, despair, and restrictive thoughts. Your past doesn't define you; it's a tool for growth. Together, we can transform every experience into a stepping stone, shaping the person you aspire to be and enabling you to savor new moments. Let's explore how your life experiences can propel you towards a brighter, more fulfilling future.