Maybe you're telling yourself stories that feel terrible but somehow also true. "I'm not good enough." "Everyone leaves." "I'm fundamentally flawed." And maybe you're also caught between contradictory feelings - part of you knows you're capable while another part whispers these very doubts. You might tell yourself you're fine while your body holds tension.

Some approaches try to challenge these thoughts or resolve these contradictions. But what if they're not malfunctions? What if they're messengers?

Your anxiety, depression, and painful thoughts aren't random. Neither are your internal contradictions - the way part of you can feel confident while another part feels terrified, or how you might push people away while desperately wanting connection. These are all pointing toward something that needs attention - old wounds that haven't been fully felt, needs that haven't been met, or parts of yourself that have been waiting to be heard.

Some approaches to therapy try to eliminate symptoms or resolve contradictions. But these experiences often contain the very information needed for healing. Your "negative" thoughts might be trying to create a bridge to feelings that need to be processed. Your conflicting feelings might be different parts of you trying to communicate their own important truths.

In therapy, I pay attention to all of you - what you say and what you don't say, what your words express and what your body communicates. If you tell me you're not upset while your eyes well up, I might notice both. We don't have to resolve the contradiction or make you consistent.

Sometimes healing happens simply from having all parts of yourself truly seen. The part that wants to be strong and the part that needs to be held. The part that trusts and the part that's terrified. The part that hopes and the part that's given up.

You might notice yourself thinking thoughts that feel terrible but somehow also true: "I'm not good enough," "I always mess things up," "People don't really care about me." Traditional therapy often treats these as cognitive distortions to challenge and correct.

But what if these painful thoughts are your psyche's way of creating access to old feelings that need attention? What if "I'm unlovable" is trying to take you to the abandoned child inside who desperately needs to be seen and held?

Our culture teaches us to get rid of pain quickly - take something, think differently, distract yourself. But pain that isn't felt doesn't disappear. It gets stored in your body and influences your thoughts and behaviours from beneath awareness.

This isn't about wallowing in pain or staying stuck in negative stories. It's about using them as temporary bridges to access and process what's been stored in your system. Once the underlying feelings are fully felt and released, both the pain and the thoughts that led you there often naturally dissolve.

Your body knows how to heal. Emotions naturally regulate themselves when we stop interfering with them. But this process requires safety - both external safety in the therapeutic relationship and internal safety that comes from learning to be present with your experience with compassion and without judgement.

There's no pressure to feel or explore anything you're not ready for. I respond to what you bring rather than having my own agenda about where you should go. Your system's natural wisdom guides what unfolds.

Healing isn't about eliminating pain - it's about developing the capacity to hold it. When difficult emotions are fully felt in the presence of someone who can witness them without trying to fix or change them, they often naturally complete their cycle and release.

This takes time and safety. Much of our pain comes from experiences that weren't witnessed when they occurred. In therapy, you're not alone with your feelings. There's someone present who can hold space for whatever arises without judgement or agenda.

This approach isn't for everyone. It requires willingness to feel rather than just think your way through problems. It means being curious about your contradictions rather than trying to resolve them quickly. It means trusting that your pain might have something important to say.

But if you're tired of managing symptoms or fighting your experience, if you sense there's wisdom in your struggles that hasn't been honoured, if you're ready to be witnessed in your full complexity rather than helped to be more consistent - then this might be what you're looking for.