Hello! I’m Kate.
Trauma
Women’s Issues
Anxiety
Professional Philosophy
One of the most powerful aspects of music is its ability to reach and impact the mind, body, and spirit of the listener with or without the use of words. As a clinician, I firmly believe that good therapy does the same. In my work I utilize a person-centered and trauma-informed approach. Trauma is not what happened (or didn’t happen), but how you changed because of it. Whether you are a survivor of abuse or still feel a knot in your stomach when you think about the time you were picked last at recess, we all carry scars and adaptations with us from our past experiences. Trauma is almost universal. Fortunately, so is resilience.
While it was once believed that talking about traumatic experiences was the only way to heal from them, research shows that significant healing can take place even in the absence of verbally retelling events. Therefore, I employ an eclectic approach to trauma treatment, customized to meet the individual strengths and needs of my clients. Some of the techniques I utilize include the creative arts, somatic exercises, mindfulness-based experiences, EMDR, cognitive-behavioral techniques (such as DBT) and verbal processing.
“You were only waiting for this moment to arise…”
― The Beatles
Personal Background
As a highly sensitive kid, I often struggled growing up to find my place. When I was very young, music was my refuge, my safe place. As I got older, my relationship with music became more complicated. I still enjoyed listening and creating music in isolation but struggled with horrible performance anxiety around others. I knew that I wanted a career where I could help others enjoy music the way that I once had. Initially, I chose to pursue a career in music education, as I was not aware that the field of music therapy existed. I made my way through undergrad but not without some significant battle wounds. My performance anxiety had wreaked havoc on me mentally, emotionally, and physically (in the form of severe tendonitis caused by playing with constant tension). When I began teaching, I quickly realized that my goals for my students were more focused on how my students responded to music than technique or musical proficiency.
It was during this time that my grandmother suffered a traumatic brain injury. Overnight, my favorite person in the world and my first piano teacher forgot who I was. I was devastated, but soon discovered that we could still communicate with each other through the music we used to play together. Understanding this led me to the field of music therapy. Music therapy isn’t about how well you play but how you connect with yourself and others. When ego was removed, I was able to find my voice. My goal as a music therapist is to help others do the same.
Since completing my master’s in music therapy, I have gone on to achieve additional training in a variety of psychotherapy techniques. My background in music has supported my understanding and utilization of various approaches. I am fascinated by the way EMDR utilizes cadence and rhythms to process traumatic material, how trauma can be released through engaging in drumming and other somatic experiences, and how transformative mindfulness experiences can be when accompanied by live music. I have also redefined my definition of “music” to include any utterance of sound or silence, which is to say that every session is music therapy even when no melodies are sung/played and that everyone is musical, even if you don’t think of yourself as such.
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 areas in the following areas:
Trauma and PTSD
Quite often, people associate trauma with monumental events, such as war or environmental disasters. However, while horrible events such as these can certainly be traumatic, trauma is not the event (or lack of event in some cases) but how an individual is changed because of it. Trauma is almost universal and is as unique and individual as the people it affects. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to trauma treatment. In my practice, I utilize a combination of approaches, including creative arts therapy, mindfulness exercises, somatic experiences, EMDR, cognitive behavioral approaches (such as DBT) and verbal psychotherapy techniques to help my clients heal.
Women’s Issues
Being a woman in the 21st century comes with its own unique set of challenges. Whether you’re dealing with identity issues, questions or challenges surrounding professional and independent goals, marital or family stress, difficulties surrounding motherhood, fertility issues, or birth trauma, I hear you. At times it can feel like you’re being pulled in a million different directions all at once. Through various therapeutic approaches I can help you organize your thoughts and regulate your body to deal with life’s challenges one at a time.
If parenting is one of your current struggles, I have extensive training in childhood development and trust-based relational interventions to help support your parenting journey.
Anxiety
Oh anxiety, my old friend. If you’re currently struggling with performance anxiety, social anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD, or perfectionism, I can help. Not only because of my professional education and experience, but because I’ve been there. Some of the techniques I use in anxiety treatment include EMDR, creative arts, CBT (including exposure response prevention), DBT, and internal family systems. I have found in my practice and in my life, that the best way to master anxiety is to address it from a space of compassion and with firm boundaries.