I look forward to connecting with you. I’m Danielle.

  • LGBTQ+ / Families and Couples Planning

  • Infertility and Women’s Issues

  • Addiction & Recovery

  • Special needs parenting

  • Spiritual-based therapy

  • Eating disorders

Professional Philosophy

We all encounter wounds from different phases of life, relationships, and traumas. However, we aren’t always taught the tools that offer us resolution and healing. We are conditioned to be victimized by this pain rather than transforming it for a greater purpose.  Being a healer to me means that at one time or another, we have had to lean on others to gain guidance and support. In order to be effective healers, we both have to be willing to show up, be transparent, AND do the work.  When we begin to embrace the phases within us, we can grow to understand the connections around us.

“Art washes from the soul, the dust of everyday life.”

― Pablo Picasso

Personal Background

Understanding my natural strengths as a healer was prevalent to me from a young age. Though there are many variations of healers in the world, I strongly connect with both the wounded and intuitive healer archetypes. 

In mythology, there is a story about Chiron (aka the wounded healer) who suffered from an incurable wound which empowered him to utilize his own pain to witness others in theirs and offer healing to them. In modern astrology, Chiron is utilized to unlock a deeper understanding of ourselves and the healing journey we face in this lifetime. Though the intuitive healer does not share the experience of pain with the wounded healer, they utilize their natural intuition of knowing how to heal pain through the art of connection.

I believe when we integrate using our gifts towards life’s challenges and fully embrace the darkness within us, we can use it to our advantage, turning our pain into purpose.

AREAS OF FOCUS

All of us here at START address the mental health areas of stress, trauma, and anxiety in our practice. We apply these three topics to unique, specific challenges that our clients are going through. I also offer specialized treatment in the following areas:

LGBTQIA+ / Families and Couples Planning

In a world where we seek to be understood, honoring a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and expression creates more inclusive and safer spaces. I value supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals, especially youth, in becoming more empowered in establishing their identity and personal autonomy that leads to authenticity and expression of the soul. 

Our most intimate relationships are formed within our early childhood experiences. In turn, this influences those we may connect to and seek partnership with. Working with a therapist can help you dive deeper into understanding the foundations of family systems and how that may show up in patterns of your relationships. Together, we can work towards establishing the dynamics of healthy partnerships including asserting and maintaining boundaries, improved methods of connection and effective communication. Additionally, I specialize working with LGBTQIA+ couples, family planning and second parent adoption which comes with its own set of dynamics and challenges. 

Spiritual Based Psychotherapy

Spirituality is a subjective path that everyone follows differently – and that’s ok! The holistic journey to me supports themes that embrace changes, honoring our uniqueness and connection to nature and the world around us. I value thinking outside the realms of traditional therapy through energy healing practices and sacred tools that assist in the healing process. 

Addiction & Recovery

The creative process can offer insight about the underlying thoughts, feelings and behaviors linked to substance use. It can be useful to aid in self-reflection and expression; peeling back the layers of traumas that are often caused by chronic abandonment, prolonged exposure to triggers and ultimately repressed beneath the surface. When we feel more connected to the why, we can better understand the how. Through learning practical tools assisted with creative outlets such as art-making, music, poetry and story-telling, we can collaborate towards a personalized and self-directed approach to recovery.

Infertility and Women’s Issues

Women’s issues such as infertility are prevalent now more than ever. There aren’t enough outlets and specialized levels of care for the complex trauma, grief and loss you may experience throughout the process. My creative tools were what I leaned on the most throughout my journey because it gave me a safe space to express the distress in a way words couldn’t. I use my personal experiences as a way to assist navigating the negative impacts on functioning and offer support for the emotional and physical stress on the body, mind and relationships.