Unfolding Path Counseling

03/11/2026

Perhaps the biggest challenge of relationships of any kind is that none of us experience other people objectively. We view the world through our projections. This isn’t necessarily a problem; it’s just the nature of being human. It is never fully possible to know what is objectively happening between myself and another person because my perception is filtered through my past experiences.

Because you behaved this way in the past, I may expect you to always behave this way. Because other people that you remind me of behaved a certain way, I may expect you to behave this way too. Because of my past experiences I may carry bigger beliefs about how people “are”. Or I may think I know why someone is doing or saying something without them telling me. And then I react to those assumptions.

This is rarely happening on a conscious level, until we do the work of making it conscious. As we explore our own triggers and reactions and develop a deeper relationship with our own protective system, things start to become clearer. We then become capable of doing the deeper healing with the more vulnerable or hurt parts of us. This doesn’t mean we stop projecting, but we begin to have more perspective and more choice in how we react to others. We have more space to be curious about the other person’s experience and their reactions to us with less defensiveness.

02/26/2026

Many people believe the purpose of therapy is to have insights about ourselves. While it is certainly important, I consider insight to be an added benefit rather than the main goal. Trauma, anxiety and shame aren’t rational processes, which is why self-help books (and a lot of talk therapy) usually don’t create lasting change. We can intellectually understand why we feel or behave a certain way without any real transformation in those feelings and behaviors.

Internal blocks like avoidance of conflict, fear of failure, difficulty setting boundaries, social anxiety, relationship triggers and self-criticism happen on the nervous system level and are built on deeper meaning we have made about ourselves and about the world—often at a very young age. Insights happen along the way, but we don’t shift the underlying patterns with our logical brain alone.

02/16/2026

AI is remarkable technology and will transform the way we do things in ways we can’t yet know. But it is unlikely to help us find a deeper connection with ourselves and with each other. These tools do not have nervous systems and they are not able to hold space or help us to deepen into a state of presence. Without conscious consideration and regulation on the ways these models are implemented it is likely that AI will disconnect us further.

Our attention is already dominated by algorithms that create addictive loops of dopamine and cortisol. The attention economy (gambling, news, social media, etc.) is already disconnecting us from each other and from our bodies. We are already in our heads most of the time. More “intelligence”, artificial or otherwise, is not going to be the thing that creates community and the deeper sense of meaning that comes with it.

Because chatbots mimic connection but without the friction or challenge, there is also a real danger that they will make it easier to avoid taking the uncomfortable risk of being seen by others or developing the skills necessary for deeper relationships.

12/13/2021

Just wanted to let everyone know that as of last week I am now officially a Certified IFS Therapist!

07/21/2020

Look what randomly showed up in my google news feed today! An article about IFS

IFS therapy is upending the thinking around schizophrenia, depression, OCD, and more

06/24/2020

I'm now located in Center City Philadelphia! I have space for some new clients. I work with adult individuals who are motivated to work through trauma, anxiety, relationship struggles, etc.

05/25/2020

We all have “parts” of us that want to keep us in our safety/comfort zone. The primitive portion of our brain does not like risk, uncertainty, or discomfort. It’s our brains best survival and defense mechanism. When we can listen to and sit with our most vulnerable emotions, we then gain the ability to use the front part of our brain (executive functioning) to make wise decisions that move us beyond fear...