Counseling for academics, from a therapist who's been there
It's time to focus on you, not your students
Therapy for Academics
There is an urgent need for mental health services for academics.
Not just college counseling programs for undergraduates, but also for the 'adults': the adjuncts, ABDs, tenure-track faculty, and contingent faculty don't necessarily want to go to run into their students in the waiting room.
As an anthropologist, I studied scientific communities and the structure of higher education institutions in the US and in Latin America. What I learnt is that the ivory tower is built on depression, anxiety, and untreated trauma.
As a therapist, my goal is to take what I have learnt from studying academics, and use it to help individuals survive and flourish in what is often a lonely and unsupportive career.
I currently offer individual and group counseling specifically tailored to academics. In the future I also be developing consultation and workshops for departments.
For individuals, this can involve addressing issues like burnout, anxiety, procrastination, imposter-syndrome, and depression/trauma during fieldwork. Group therapy will focus on topics like leaving academia, bullying, post-tenure depression, etc.
Workshops for anthropology departments specifically can focus on topics such as preparing grad students for mental health challenges during fieldwork, dealing with the pressures of the job market, or managing the post-field transition.
Consultation for departments can involve conflict-management and relationship repair that takes a family-therapy approach to long-term collegiate relationships.
Immigrant & transnational experiences
I work with individuals, couples, and families who are navigating life as either first or second generation immigrants.
Moving to a new country is a major life event, but it's also an ongoing process. New issues arise at different life stages, as we build lives that bridge two (or more) cultures.
My experience of making a life in a new country will not be the same as yours. All our immigrant stories are unique. But when working with individuals from new countries, I strive to balance asking you for clarification with doing my own research. Your job is not to educate me about your country; in therapy your growth and needs are the focus, not mine.
In terms of my professional experience, in 2022 I volunteered to co-lead group therapy sessions for recently arrived Afghan refugees and at Trellus (formerly Asian Human Services) I work with first and second generation immigrants to the US.
Survivors of Coercively Controlling Relationships
I have sought out training in working with individuals and family members who have suffered from abuse in intimate relationships. Both individuals and groups of people can be victims of 'coercive control', a form of interpersonal abuse that involves threats, intimidation, humiliation, and abuse, and sometimes - but not always - physical violence.
It can occur in domestic relationships: for example when the perpetrator is a spouse or parent.
But it can also occur in groups when a single person controls the behavior of their followers or dependents. This dynamic is often found in groups we term 'cults'.