Stillwater Counseling

31/08/2026

📚 Book recommendation: The Presence Process by Michael Brown
A couple of colleagues recommended this book to me a while ago, and I put off reading (and actually doing) it for longer than I’d like to admit. I’m so glad I finally dove in.
It feels like a missing link I’ve been looking for: a structured practice people can do on their own, alongside therapy, to begin turning toward uncomfortable sensations and old, unintegrated emotional charges rather than automatically avoiding them. Over time, it can help build more capacity to actually be with what comes up.
The book drove me a little crazy with how much Brown repeats himself 😂 (there is a reason for it), but I stuck with it and found the process incredibly valuable.
I especially recommend it for anyone interested in taking more responsibility for their emotional experience, particularly if your instinct is to focus primarily on what other people are doing to make you feel the way you do.
Not because other people’s behavior doesn’t matter. It does. But sometimes what gets activated in the present has roots much further back.
Worth the read. Even more worth actually doing the process.

28/08/2026

For those therapists and other birth professionals interested in learning more about using Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) with the (non-pregnant) perinatal population, I've got two virtual trainings coming up this Fall. One is a general training on Sept 10th (coming up!) and the other is on integrating EMDR & KAP with perinatal women on October 30th. 2 CEs for each. They will also be recorded for later viewing. To sign up or learn more, go to https://www.hhptherapy.com/professionals.

06/06/2026

A beautiful week in Tuscany, Italy spent teaching, learning, and connecting.

I am grateful for the opportunity to present on Ket@mine-Assisted Psychotherapy and the integration of KAP and EMDR for perinatal women to such a thoughtful group of therapists.

Thank you for your curiosity, engagement, and commitment to supporting healing in the lives of the clients you serve.

16/04/2026

All of you who have had or are having intrusive thoughts of harm, you are not alone. They are quite common. And not only that, you are LESS likely to actually harm your infant or anyone else than the general public. They are thoughts, fears, looping that distract you from feeling whatever is coming up in your body. Perhaps a some shock perhaps? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35235718/

20/03/2026

Promising!

Emerging evidence suggests perioperative esketamine may reduce postpartum depression risk and improve recovery; however, information regarding long-term efficacy and optimal use is limited.

09/03/2026

Sometimes the very things that protected us
become the things that make connection hard.

Defenses were never the problem.
They were solutions.

The work is learning to meet them with curiosity and compassion instead of shame. 🤍

09/03/2026

Deep Brain Reorienting helps by
slowing everything down and going beneath the story and coping.

It lets the body gently
return to and process:
the moment of reaching
the expectation
the shock
the pain

So the nervous system can finally learn:
“I can want without danger.”
“I can orient without collapse.”
“I can be alive without scanning or chasing.”

This is not about fixing behavior.
It is about restoring the
safety of seeking.

23/02/2026

Bali 💚
I had the honor of presenting on Ket@mine-Assisted Psychotherapy last week to a beautiful group of therapists. It’s always humbling to speak about this work because I am still learning every single day.
What filled me up even more than presenting was the connection. Long conversations about trauma, healing, culture, and life. Laughing until our stomachs hurt. Exploring together. Being humans together, not just clinicians.
There is something deeply regulating about being in community with people who care about this work as much as you do.
And yes… the inexpensive massages and spa afternoons did not hurt. A daily reminder that care for the nervous system matters in every context.
I return home grateful. Humbled. Inspired. And very aware that this work is always bigger than any one of us.

24/12/2025

Nice job, Michigan!

Michigan is rapidly expanding doula access after beginning to cover the service through its federally funded Medicaid program, a shift that health officials say will improve birth outcomes and strengthen maternal care.

15/12/2025

A client sent me this study mentioned in The Guardian - thought it might interest some of you. Ket@mine also reduces DMN activity and has proven helpful for other clients of mine struggling with OCD.