Asheville Counseling Resources
Writing, Conversations + Resources
This is a curated collection of blog posts, media features, and resources for people who are ready to go deeper than coping strategies.
I write for smart, sensitive women who are tired of carrying too much; for men who want to connect more honestly with their inner lives; and for elders sitting with questions of meaning, loss, and what still matters. In other words, people who are ready to reclaim their energy, trust themselves, and create more ease in how they live and love.
I’ve been a therapist and counselor in Asheville for over fifteen years. This page is where I share my thoughts on life, healing, and the human condition. I also share podcast conversations I’ve been part of and my professional affiliations. If you’re exploring therapy in Asheville to support your relationships, emotional health, or personal growth, you’ll find grounded, depth-oriented writing here.
Asheville Counseling Blog
Relationships are my central preoccupation: how they go wrong, how they can go right, and what it takes to understand your own patterns well enough to change them. I write about the things that don’t often get named: emotional estrangement, the anger that lives just under the surface, the loneliness inside committed partnerships, the defenses we built for good reasons that now cost us.
I also write about complex trauma, depth-oriented therapy, and the ways we cope that can keep us stuck.
Healthy Communication in Asheville
Folx, we have an issue. It's a problem we all have, collectively. We, being the masses of us who avoid confrontation, who fear upsetting someone else, who feel it's our duty to be easy-going enough that no one ever has a reason to dislike or be upset with us. The...
Am I Being Selfish?
Self-centered. Self-absorbed. Self-righteous. Self-care. Self-exploration. Selfhood. Self-sufficient. Self-aware. Self-assured. What do you notice when you read the words above? When I consider the words that we as a culture use to describe the relationships...
I Want A Therapist to Call Me on My Shit… Will You?
"I want a therapist to call me on my shit..." Over the last ten years in my private practice, I occasionally hear this request from new clients. "Are you the kind of therapist who will call me on my shit?" "Yes, I am," is the short answer. But how I do that may...
What does it mean to be resilient?
Resilience isn't one thing: it is a set of skills. You don't need to do or have all of them, but the more you have, the better your odds of withstanding life's ups and downs. But what does it mean to be resilient? Some people call resilience "protective factors"...
Therapy for Childhood Trauma
Photo Credit: Harper's BazaarTherapy for Childhood Trauma This morning I read an article that has inspired a new category of Blog Post for Whole Self Therapy: The Human Condition. In The Human Condition, I will be sharing stories that illustrate what we humans all...
Loneliness & Finding Friendship as an Adult Resources
Finding friendship as an adult can be challenging. And loneliness is a huge problem. We live in a deeply individualistic society that preaches independence above all else. "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps" is one of many commonly used euphemisms to...
Therapy for Depression in North Carolina
Seeking out therapy for depression in North Carolina can be challenging, but finding the right therapeutic fit can be a transformative experience. I provide support to many people suffering from low-grade, chronic depression. When it comes to the individual factors...
Self-Compassion for Therapists
Self-compassion for therapists sounds like it's a given, right? Psychotherapists are some of the most compassionate people I know. Many of us are temperamentally sensitive and predisposed to caregiving. By the time we hit graduate school and our professional training,...
How Often Should I See My Therapist?
How often should I see my Therapist? "How often should I plan to come see you?" This is a question I often get from prospective clients early on in our work together. My answer: every week. Therapy is a unique relationship, and has the potential to be one of your most...
The Dance of Anger
Written in 1985 by psychotherapist Harriet Lerner, PhD, The Dance of Anger: A Woman's Guide to Changing the Patterns of Intimate Relationships is a seminal book about women and their relationships with their own feelings of anger. A Book Written For Women One of the...
Trauma Therapy in Asheville
Most of us have heard about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and many of us associate PTSD with the military and experiences of being in combat. Post-traumatic stress disorder indicates a psychological response to an acutely traumatic situation. It was coined and...
The Great Depresh
Last night I tuned in to Gary Gulman's HBO special "The Great Depresh." It was a 74 minute comedy special featuring a mixture of his stand-up routine and documentary elements from his life. Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh 2019 Trailer As a therapist and as someone who...
Media Features
USA Today + Asheville Citizen Times
In the days that followed Hurricane Helene’s devastation of Asheville in October 2024, I was interviewed by USA Today on the mental health toll of collective disaster: what it does to a community to lose so much at once, and what support actually looks like in the aftermath. Living and practicing here, this wasn’t an abstract conversation. It was personal.
Podcast Interviews
Women In Depth
I joined host Lourdes Viado to talk about one of the most quietly pervasive wounds I see in my practice: what happens to women who grew up without an emotionally present father. We explored how paternal neglect shapes a woman’s relationship with herself, her sense of worth, her patterns in love, and the particular grief of longing for something that was never quite there. A conversation for anyone who recognizes that wound, even if they’ve never had words for it.
Finding Your Way Through Therapy
I sat down for an honest conversation about what it means to be a therapist who also does her own work: why I believe it’s non-negotiable, what I’ve learned from being on the other side of the room, and how my own therapy has shaped the way I practice. If you’ve ever been curious about the person behind the practice, this one’s for you.
Work With Me
If you’re done carrying it all alone and ready for meaningful, lasting change, I invite you to take the next step. As your counselor, I would be honored to support you.
Whole Self Therapy® PLLC
Serving individuals in Asheville, across North Carolina, and in Florida via telehealth.