ife is not easy. Life has a way of throwing challenges your way, and yet, so rarely do you stop, process, and look for help. You feel that something is not quite right, but you don’t know how to talk about it, so you don’t. You end up feeling alone and maybe even isolated as you progress towards unhappiness. You’re not sure where to begin, and you start to believe that this is just the way life is. Other people have it worse, but you still feel so unhappy. And then you wonder whether or not you have the right to feel unhappy. You’re not alone, as many people feel this way and many suffer in silence. You don’t deserve to live life this way, and you need a space that centers you and where you can find yourself, be yourself, love yourself. You deserve someone in your corner, and I can be that person for you.

Therapy with Dr. Cayla

Often in life, you feel like you have to just survive and perform a part. Therapy should be the place where you can just be yourself, and we will work together in transforming your life.

The pressures of life, especially for women and women of color, can be challenging and never ending. You can’t quite ever win. Everyone has an opinion –whether it be your friends, family, or your partner. And the people you love the most, have the strongest opinions of them all. But where are you in all of this? Can you be you – and all of you? People love to put you in boxes and in roles, but what if that’s not who you really are? You are ready to own your true self. You might not know who your true self really is, but you need a safe and honest person to turn to. That person can be me!

Body Image

Feeling comfortable in your body is essential to confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth. And yet, you feel trapped in your body. Having negative perceptions of your body often creates feelings of low self-worth, depression, shame, and sometimes, feeling the need to hide. Not just hiding your body, but hiding yourself. There are times when you look in the mirror and you either don’t recognize yourself or don’t want to see yourself. You shouldn’t have to live like this – no one should.

You’re wanting to be yourself and comfortable, but shame keeps creeping in and is being perpetuated by societal, familial, and cultural norms. Messages surrounding your age, gender, race, and other “isms” maintain the perception of who and how you should be and sometimes that translates to how your body should be. You field comments, not only about your body, but you hear judgmental remarks that others make. You struggle to know if you are worthy of being seen, but deep down, you know you are worth it, and you’re tired of being invisible.
Exploring body image is not just about the actual body, but it’s about uncovering your identity, all its intersectionalities, and who you are – authentically. Your time in therapy is about you finally being able to be visible, uncover who you really are, and not be the person others want you to be. You are ready for a change, and we can, and will, do this together.

Therapy in working through body image concerns is not about discussing what you feel is wrong with your body. It’s about centering yourself and allowing yourself to be seen. Therapy for you is about uncovering who you are, who you are not, and unlearning the pressures that have been put on you. We will work together to get you to a place of authenticity where you can finally stop performing.

You shouldn’t have to keep living in hiding and merely performing to the expectations of society. You deserve to live your life the way you want to live it. Your first step is acknowledging that you are ready for a change and, together, work to transform your life.

Grief Counseling

Grief is one of the most challenging experiences a person can endure, and yet everyone experiences it a little differently. Grief can feel all-consuming, where you feel you cannot breathe, see, or even be. Grief can also contribute to you feeling completely numb, unable to enjoy much of anything, and a shell of who you once were. What makes it worse, is that you find you don’t have many you can turn to. Maybe the people around you are also enduring the same loss, or it’s difficult for them to talk about grief. Either way, you’re feeling isolated and alone in your grief. It’s hard to keep moving through life this way but you are stuck – you don’t want to be in pain, but you don’t want to forget your loved one either.

Grief Counseling is about learning to move with grief rather than to ignore it. The real work comes in acknowledging that not only is your loved one no longer here, but that the life you had envisioned with them is suddenly and painfully gone. So, who are you now without your loved one? This is what’s contributing to you feeling stuck in your grief. This is all part of the grief process, but you don’t have to go through it alone.

You may want to just run from the pain and avoid the loss, but you know you are not yourself. Recalling memories can be painful but also beautiful and a way to keep your loved one with you, always.