I am passionate about helping people reach a level of self-understanding, healing, and growth that offers them the opportunity to transform their lives and flourish.
While working with my patients, I strive to help them discover the root of the issues they are facing. My approach incorporates healing interventions that help them accept and embrace every part of themselves through self-love and compassion. Compassion is at the core of the therapeutic work I do with each individual patient.
People who come to me for therapy face a variety of struggles, including personal relationship failures, work conflicts, parenting difficulties, chronic physical ailments, and difficulty setting boundaries. They often feel at a loss for options and are experiencing high levels of anxiety, depression, and a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. Many have tried to self-treat their conditions with eating, drinking, physical activity, self-help books, and a myriad of alternatives, in hopes of finding relief by distracting themselves from the weight of their issues. Although they may experience a sense of relief for a time, they soon find themselves struggling with similar difficulties in the same or other areas of their lives. For example, it is not a coincidence that someone who leaves an abusive relationship finds themselves in an unnervingly similar relationship with someone else. Because the root of the issue was not addressed, the self-treatment solution served as only a temporary break from their suffering.
When guided through the process of self-exploration, people are better able to understand themselves, their emotional wounds, and their patterns of dealing with life challenges. Being able to reach a deeper level of awareness is the gateway to long-term healing.
I have often seen in my practice people who are not fully aware of the emotional wounds they carry and how they manifested in their lives. Furthermore, they cannot clearly see the impact those festering wounds have on themselves and their relationships with others. Once they understand the origin of their emotional wounds, they can begin developing self-compassion, and for the first time, experience self-love, which ultimately leads to healing. What follows is a notable and lasting improvement in their mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional well-being.
The process of healing from past trauma can be both challenging and overwhelming at times. Still, healing requires acknowledging, validating, and feeling our pain to heal from our collected emotional wounds. Despite wanting to convince ourselves otherwise, pain and trauma do not simply go away or disappear because we refuse to acknowledge it. Dismissive comments like, “After all, it happened in the past, why talk about it now,” and “It’s not going to change anything,” are intended to make us ignore the problem altogether. Nor can we fill voids in our life by changing external factors, (i.e., where we live, work, or the people we interact with).
When we do not address our pain and allow ourselves to heal from it, the symptoms of our wounds reveal themselves in different ways, including a sense of worthlessness, toxic/unhealthy relationships, physical pain, and repeating destructive behaviors, to name a few. This is not about trying to erase the memories of our past or pretend they do not exist. This process is about healing from those wounds, so they no longer adversely impact our future. Once a level of internal healing is obtained, we will have the insight to make healthier choices that allow us to change our world around us for the better.
I have patients ask me at the start of therapy how long the process will take, and how soon they can expect to feel better. These are normal and reasonable questions, as none of us wants our pain to linger one second longer than it needs to. I tell them that change is possible, but it takes time, dedication, and commitment, along with the right therapist to guide them through the process.
I have watched patients, who initially doubted the process, find the courage to commit to it and ultimately reap the profound emotional benefits of addressing complicated issues that festered within. This is a process that with commitment allowed them to reach levels of insight and healing that significantly improved the quality of their lives.
When you allow yourself the opportunity first to understand, then heal from your emotional wounds, you open the gateway to grow, transform and flourish in life.
The days, weeks, and months will continue moving forward whether we hold on to our pain or start the process of relieving ourselves of carrying that heavy burden. I hope you consider the path that ultimately leads to a healthier and happier version of you. You are worth every minute of time and effort that it will take to complete that journey.
If what I write about resonates with you, please talk to someone. Reach out for help and allow yourself to understand your pain, heal from it, and transform your life for a healthier future.
Dr. Cristina Gómez