Withness is the practice of consistently and persistently entering and engaging with another person. My desire is to enter and engage with you and your story with curiosity, compassion, and thoughtfulness in such a way that you can begin to be with and stay with yourself while being with others. In order to be with others fully, it is helpful to understand yourself more fully, accept and be kind to yourself in relation to any personal limitations, celebrate your giftings and begin to move with and in freedom in Christ. Withness allows you to risk desiring again or maybe for the first time. Withness allows you to live a more integrated life – a life marked by alignment in what you do, what you feel and what you think.

As much as I want to offer you withness, I want to also help you engage in practicing withness for yourself and in your other relationships. Practice is essential. In counseling, you will have the opportunity to practice how to be withyourself, with me, with others and with God.  I take the time to know you and the main characters in your story, past, present and future.

I believe understanding our story and changing how we experience our story is crucial for each of us to reclaim our essential identity and go on to create our own personal brand of beauty and goodness in the world.

A counseling session of withness might include any of the following; siting with, listening with, being with, seeing with, talking with, sensing with, imaging with, feeling with, thinking with, laughing with, journeying with, practicing with, role playing with, mindfulnessing with, questioning with, crying with, exploring with, pondering with, and dreaming with. In each act of withness, myself and my clients will be practicing these activities with curiosity, with compassion, with kindness, with intentionality, with hope, with attention, with attunement, with expectation, with presence, with consistency, with patience, with care, and with anticipation.