*mutters to self* You keep telling all your colleagues to. Now it's time for you to update yours. You can write this. Just introduce yourself. *spends the next few weeks avoiding the self-placed demand.*

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My interest and work in the fields of Psychology and Mental Health were, at a young age, driven by my 'curiosity about the human mind'. That drive made a lot more sense after I came to terms with my late-diagnosed neurodivergent identity and saw the young person who had been grappling with ways to navigate socially and decided to, literally, study human behavior to cope.

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My professional self has evolved over the years of experience working in the mental health field in various capacities, as a result of the privilege I've had to hold space for stories of people whose lives have been similar and drastically different from my own. I chose, contrary to my original training, to see the client across from me in therapy as a person - an organism impacted by, reflective of, and responding to their ecosystem - not just a 'failure to be a productive member of society'. Nature is queer. As a part of it, why would humans not reflect the same diversity that we admire in thriving natural ecosystems? Why would we not think, feel, process, believe, move, identify, love, advocate, protest, resist, and self-actualize in different ways that make sense to our needs within our own ecosystems? Why would we deserve any less acceptance and celebration for our diverse natures than...butterflies?

 

It feels then that my place in this world of mental health is to use my skills to continually humanize us to ourselves - to consciously subvert the systems that thrive from us becoming complicit in our own dehumanization. My various service offerings over the years have been dedicated to offering folks the spaces and resources that encourage them to see and treasure their own humanity and connect with others' too.

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Outside of work, I'm usually - dealing with existential dread, collecting books and eventually reading some (entirely separate activities), getting into my latest cozy game hyperfixation, and unlearning/discovering what it means to be human.