How I work with my clients

As humans, we need to be with other humans in order to heal. I believe that everyone could benefit from having a helping hand on their journey of self-discovery. Being a human is hard work. Most of us get significantly wounded along the way. Sometimes those wounds are so painful that we would rather just button them up and move on than ask for someone to join us in the pain. When I work with people what I see is the cumulative effect of old wounds piled up, all of us doing our best to smile anyway. In seeking counseling support, it is possible to access a trusted guide who can walk with you through the wounded places and help you find true resolution. The body has a tremendous ability to heal when given the right supportive environment. None of us can do it alone. We are social creatures and our healing often needs to be validated by a loving witness.

What I offer my clients is that loving witness. I will join you in your darkest places and help them feel less scary. I will listen to your deepest shame so you don’t feel the need to hide so much. I will welcome your rage and agony with just as much fierce compassion as your silly inner child. Together we will visit and invite all the parts of you to reunite in wholeness, and gently transform whatever blockages or defensive strategies could be in the way of that freedom.

Early in my education and career, I was an activist and world traveler and I came to U.C. Berkeley where I earned my B.A. degree in peace and conflict studies. For several years after graduating, I was deeply engaged in various forms of peace work, teaching, and mediation. What I eventually realized is that while responding to conflicts with nonviolence is the most effective and humane approach (and a process I am still committed to), at the root of most conflicts, is unprocessed pain and trauma. Therefore, waiting until the conflicts erupt is less efficient than helping people process their invisible pain before it starts spilling onto other people. I decided that I wanted to prevent violence by going straight to the source, and the best way to do that was to study counseling.

I draw from several modalities in my counseling practice. Through my yearlong training in sex and relationship coaching with the Somatica Institute, I learned to lead with my own vulnerability and encourage realness with my clients. I also learned an amazing amount of practical skills to help people navigate the mysteries of intimacy so they can relate to others more authentically and build their ideal relationships. In my training in Bodynamics through Body Wisdom Psychotherapy, I am studying the 7 developmental stages that each of us progress through as children and how to work specifically with wounds from each stage. In completing two years of training with Somatic Experiencing, I learned precise techniques to help clients process and complete trauma that gets stored in the body.

In 2021, I completed my master of science degree in clinical mental health counseling at U.T. San Antonio. I am currently in the process of gaining my supervised clinical hours as an Associate Professional Clinical Counselor in the state of California. My study of therapy and counseling has been through all of the above programs. My studies and experience have emphasized body awareness in emotional processing, and this is the foundation for my work in my counseling practice.

Incredible intellectual prowess

Mica's incredible intellectual prowess offers a true wealth of knowledge which she can draw upon. She also delivers every message with not only complete empathy but also in a gentle way that leaves the listener open to anything she has to say.