As a clinical social worker I view mental health as a part of wider social systems. Anyone who lives with a nonconforming identity has likely experienced minority stress and/or some form of relational trauma at some point in life.
As a clinical social worker I view mental health as a part of wider social systems. Anyone who lives with a nonconforming identity has likely experienced minority stress and/or some form of relational trauma at some point in life.
Minority stress
the physiological and psychological effects associated with the adverse social conditions experienced by ethnic, racial, sexual, and gender minorities, and others who are members of stigmatized social groups
APA Dictionary of Psychology
Minority stress can have a profound effect on mental health. Being in the world that isn’t built for us can affect our feelings of belonging and self-worth, our capacity to metabolize stress, and our ability to feel joy. This can feel like isolation or grief, or contribute to symptoms of depression and anxiety.
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Therapy cannot solve the underlying reasons for minority stress: discrimination, exclusion, or bad material conditions. However, therapy can be one of the tools of maintaining hope, resistance, and resilience to it
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Since minority stress is systemic and ever-present, resistance to it must be so as well. I approach my work with clients as building everyday practices, not as a project of fixing problems. I support clients by helping them invent, adopt, and sustain practices that over time can help make their lives more sustainable.
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These practices can look like evidence-based tools: ways to be compassionate with yourself, embracing your protective parts, transforming negative core beliefs, getting more in touch with your body, or learning to feel strong feelings without overwhelm. They can also be your tailor-made practices for sustaining hope, pacing your energy, or relating to others.
I typically start my collaboration with a client by asking: “What does ‘care’ mean to you?” I trust my clients to be experts on their own experience. Together, we will assemble a personalised therapeutic toolkit. Our work will be guided by your sense of what helps and what doesn’t.
I will invite you to use your wisdom and ingenuity to co-create practices of resilience that work for you personally. We will pinpoint the practices that are already working in your life and build new ones on this foundation. I will be your champion and collaborator in this process.
I use tools from a range of evidence-based modalities, such as Internal Family Systems (aka parts work), self-compassion therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical-behavioral therapy, and trauma-informed mindfulness.
At the heart of my practice lies a conviction that mental health cannot be viewed separately from social power dynamics we all inhabit. I aim to create a space in which clients can feel safe sharing that part of their inner selves. I also strive to stay aware of the power dynamics in the therapeutic relationship itself, and invite open conversations about my own biases rooted in identity and (lack of) lived experience.
Finding a therapist who is right for you can be daunting! I encourage all potential clients to find the right fit for them. There is ample evidence that the client-therapist alliance is one of the most important factors leading to success. You are always welcome to tell me if you would like to adjust something in our sessions or to switch therapists. In the fourth or fifth session we will have a conversation to evaluate the fit. After that you have the option to choose whether to proceed or to be referred to another practitioner(s). During the exploratory call I encourage you to ask me questions like the ones in this guide by Dandelion Hill, to get more sense about where I stand on issues important to you.
Individual therapy sessions typically take place online and last between 55 and 60 minutes. Longer sessions are available, if desired. My working hours are Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00 CET (Central European Time). My working languages are English and Russian.
Please note: therapy sessions are currently not available for clients residing in the US and Canada. Coaching and peer support are open to everyone.
A therapy trajectory includes an intake, collaborative formulation of a treatment plan, goal-setting, regular check-ins and adjustments, and reflecting back on the work that has been done when you feel ready to end the sessions. When you want to end the sessions for whatever reasons, I ask that you bring this up two sessions before the end of our work, to allow us to have a fitting and compassionate conclusion for the process.
Note: Intake session are longer and will typically take 90 minutes but I offer them for the same price as regular sessions