Nice to Meet You (01)
Hey there, I’m Carly, and I’m super grateful you’ve found yourself over here on my page. I’d like to take an opportunity to introduce myself, give a little background on what I foresee for this space, as well as share what inspired its creation.
For one, I’m a therapist that specializes in the treatment of OCD, anxiety and other related disorders. More than likely if you’ve found this space you’re already at least somewhat aware of that fact. But here’s a little more context to help you understand what kind of work I do with my amazing clients as well as how I got there.
Growing up, being a therapist was not on the top list of careers for me. I don’t think I even knew what therapy was until I got to double digits, and it certainly did not seem like a fun gig to me! My first introduction to therapy was around the age of 11, due to persistent insomnia, which ultimately was my first experience with anxiety. I can’t say this is every 11 year old insomniac’s perspective, but for me not sleeping meant I was doing something bad and that must mean something is wrong with me. If you follow that line of preteen thinking, it only makes sense that you go to therapy when there is something wrong with you. Cut to present day, I am commonly seeing individuals of many different ages seek out care with a similar perspective - ‘something is wrong with me.’
As I got older, I had friends mention I’d be a good therapist, but self doubt still lingered. As a college freshman the new narrative was, ‘I’m too messy to give people advice, I’ve got way too much of my own stuff to be someone that tells another how to feel better.”
Cut to a few years later, I had at that point leaned into the idea that I could in fact help others struggling. As I pursued that goal I had developed a new theory, I was certain there was an equation I would have to master to be good enough to do it. Seeing the trend yet?
In the midst of undergrad, I was lucky enough to have a ‘Good Will Hunting moment’ while walking behind Harvard campus on a late fall day, (not the school I went to, but it adds to the warm and golden memory of this moment doesn’t it?). My school advisor and mentor walked and discussed the field and where I saw myself within it. I was absolutely searching for that “fix” to make me into a worthy therapist, maybe even a worthy human. My advisor stopped me and pointed to a kid walking in front of us who appeared distracted and elsewhere,
“See him, he’s suffering.” She then points to a woman across the street, warm in her affect, “See her, she’s suffering.” She points to herself, “I’m suffering - if you’ve got a beating heart and a brain stem that is working you’re lucky enough to be suffering.”
Slowly but surely the veil began to lift; what had started out as a notion that I was broken, and then not good enough, and then must be perfected was blown away by the idea that:
Suffering of any sort is a part of the journey, not who or what you are.
This perspective has guided me throughout my clinical career and was a massive factor in my choosing to specialize in OCD and anxiety disorders and has helped me develop the pillars I set my work upon:
Choosing hope in spite of fear.
Leaning into uncertainty with a positive regard.
Remaining compassionate to difficulties along the way.
Even more simply put, taking what is heavy and working to live with it lightly.
So let's talk quickly about what this space will be all about… pretty much everything I said already. My clients know that I can get wordy and long winded so I’m going to attempt to keep this part short and sweet. This blog will be a space where I attempt to share education, perspective and conversations that will potentially help you make heavy things feel a bit lighter. I’ll be attempting to post twice per month, with one piece being more clinically educational and one more conversational. Please leave comments, feedback and questions along the way because like my Good Will Hunting moment taught me,
If we’re lucky enough to have a heart beating and a brain stem working, we’ve all got some existence to share with one another.
Thanks for sharing in the ride,
- C
