Welcome to my page, Shadow Soup!

If you have read some of my story so far on this page, and especially if you relate to any part of it, I want to remind you that you’re not alone.

It can be difficult to find the right therapist and get comfortable. It’s even harder to open up and really start doing the work. But when it’s your time to get down to the hard stuff, I encourage you to find the support of a qualified professional. It’s so crucial to have the positive guidance, validation, tools, and resources to navigate the challenge in a healthy way.

Many people don’t understand what therapy is, and that’s okay. That’s why there are professionals to show us how to do it. I believe it should be socially acceptable, normalized, and open for discussion amongst humans.

My therapy was hard today because posting publicly about my feelings has brought up some negative inner dialogue that I haven’t struggled with in a long time. I called myself an “ungrateful brat” because I have always been trained to be ashamed of my feelings. My therapist offered reminders and encouragement for how far I’ve come since the days when “unworthy and criticized” was my default setting.

The amount of work that has been needed to remove myself from dangerous and toxic environments would not be safe for me (or anyone else) to do on my own. When we are struggling that badly, our brains don’t really know how to overcome the magnitude of what we’re experiencing by ourselves. I encourage everyone to seek it, talk about it, share it, and be open about it for others. It’s so important to have help.

Send me a message if you want help finding a therapist or crisis line.

Love is an action verb.