PRESENT AWAKENINGS TURNS 5!

Today, Present Awakenings turns 5! On June 1st, 2021, I saw my first clients at Present Awakenings, mostly virtually, from a small, single office on Lincoln Ave near Belmont. These past 5 years, we have grown to be a practice with 3 clinicians and into a much bigger office! I have put a lot of myself and my blood, sweat, and tears into the practice, but Present Awakenings was never meant to be about me. For me, it has always been about what I want it to mean to others. For clients, I hope it means hope and relief, being really seen, regaining trust in the world and in people, and finding that deep inner knowledge that they are enough and deserving of love, joy, and good things. For the clinicians who come to work with me, I want it to be a haven, the scaffolding and support they need to courageously do this work. To fellow clinicians and the community, I hope Present Awakenings continues to grow into a place people can trust for high-quality trauma and EMDR therapy. 

My entire counseling career has been focused on helping those who have experienced trauma and loss. In fact, hearing about the brand new (at the time) trauma concentration in The Chicago School’s counseling program was what cemented my choice to change careers and become a therapist more than 16 years ago! Present Awakenings was born as a practice that specialized in what I specialized in and the treatments that I wholeheartedly believed in. As someone who has personally experienced both trauma and loss and how it made me feel “crazy” and “broken” and a “burden” to others, I know how important it is to have someone who can help understand and normalize trauma responses and feel through deep pain to learn that none of those things are true. As the therapist, having a client bravely open up about the most horrible things that have ever happened to them and trust me to now hold it with them is humbling and inspiring every time it happens. I am honored each time a client comes through our (literal or virtual) doors. Steeped in both my own personal and professional experience, I often tell clients at the beginning of EMDR work, “You’re not going to believe me now, but when we’re done with this, it isn’t going to bother you and you’re going to feel good about yourself.” It is always one of the greatest joys of my work when a client says, “I have to tell you that I really didn’t believe you, but you were totally right.” It’s then that I know that we are getting them back to their wonderful, true, authentic self who can go out and shine a little more light into the world. 

Present Awakenings wouldn’t be where it is today without the gracious generosity and support of so many people. I am truly forever indebted to all the fellow clinicians and friends who have provided a listening ear for me to talk out ideas, ask endless questions, and stress out when I thought I couldn’t do it. An extra special thank you is needed to those that helped me move offices, build furniture, break down boxes, and paint walls all while letting me know that they believed in me and that I could do this. Present Awakenings wouldn’t have even come to be without others inspiring me, teaching me, mentoring me, and blazing the path before me so that I could follow. And to my family, who tell me that they are proud of me and that my parents (who are no longer with us) would be proud of me, too, please know that it means so much to me every time (even when I’m not that great at taking compliments). There is no way I could have done this without a whole “village”, and I am humbly, deeply grateful. 

Being a therapist has never been just a job for me;  it's a calling, something I'm truly passionate about, and deeply invested in. The past five years have been a lot of hard work, but also, a lot of being cared for, supported, encouraged, and empowered. Here’s to what’s to come in the next 5!