Therapy with Marian is:
Developing wisdom for your own growth.
Therapeutic work builds upon itself and trying to teach others by being their therapist won’t heal your deep wounds. The most substantial growth in therapy occurs within the relationship between therapist and client, not just with tools and advice-giving.
Attended weekly for accountability and to be consistent.
We’re making new brain pathways for healthy patterns here and that doesn’t come from checking in here and there – it comes from regular attendance, vulnerability, and attentiveness to our mental health selves. We’re making a mental wellness outlook which is sustainable, so that overwhelm and anxiety don’t take all of your battery.
Exploring expanded perspectives.
Empathy for others and validation for your feelings are what we focus on, while also acknowledging that there are oppressive systems that exist which we cannot directly control.
Art therapy and not just art-making.
Inherently, it may feel good to tap into your creativity and engage in self-expression. What we do together is use art therapy as a psychologically therapeutic tool with me, a trained art therapist, as a witness and guide to help you understand yourself – a way to put your internal experience outside of yourself, to create space and objectivity.
(See more about art therapy on this page)
Being more concerned with how you are showing up for yourself that aligns with your chosen values.
While we discuss emotions, thoughts, and behaviors and symptoms as indicators of your mental health, we more importantly focus on what brings you meaning to your life in a way in which you can reflect on what best fits for you. We cannot control how others respond when we choose to live according to our values.
A customized service for you, curated with my training and own experience
When working with you as your therapist, I have internal responses (such as emotions and thoughts) which I either tend to myself outside of our sessions or share with you when it benefits our work and your goals, not when it will benefit myself. Our work together includes me being my whole self, not a therapist robot that will give you standardized care (think Baymax without the heart).
Therapy with Marian isn’t:
A way to become a self-help guru for others.
It isn’t about continuing to turn your energy outward and further exhausting yourself, a common occurrence for a people pleaser. I won’t be giving you advice either, instead I will be clearing the way for you to understand yourself better.
A quick fix/A la carte service/a place to bring in the recent crisis.
About blaming others including your parents.
Nor is it toxic positivity (believing if you only think positively, everything will work out and always in your favor)
Making art, feeling good, and making cute things to post on IG.
Making people nicer to you and finally seeing your point-of-view.
A cookie-cutter approach, irrelevant worksheets, just a check-mark on the to-do list for you or myself.
A place to avoid who both of us are as humans.