Identity & Relationships

Who are you?

We sure are complex creatures, yes? Understanding one's own complexities -- particularly as they shift and evolve over time -- can often feel challenging. The safe container of the therapy space can facilitate your process, allowing for deeper, more complete awareness, acceptance and liberation. Any and all aspects of identity can be known, including roles you find yourself in, social categories that feel right or wrong or both, unique aspects that make you you.

How are you relating?

Whether it's with yourself, an intimate partner, your child, a friend, a family member or co-worker, relationship is an arena ripe with opportunity to heal or harm. The good news is we have great, evidence-based approaches to relating that apply across the board, and the skills and understandings of these approaches can be learned! My work is informed by attachment theory, narrative therapy and trauma-informed care. I'm also trained in the Gottman Method, a type of therapy for partners that allows for a thorough assessment of the strengths and challenges of a relationship, making possible a very targeted process that creates felt and measurable improvement.

Do you need that much more safety?

When we're exploring and living out who we are and how we're relating, there are some ways of being that can increase vulnerability in certain contexts, including in the therapy realm. Some therapists maintain that monogamy is the only healthy type of romantic-sexual relationship; I couldn't disagree more. If you want to discuss consensual or non-consensual non-monogamy, I can offer a safe space in which to do so.

Another area in which I wish to explicitly extend safety is gender and sexuality. I'm personally genderfluid, pansexual and varied in my romantic-sexual relationships. Authentic relationality is a rich resource, and I invite folks of all identities, expressions and orientations to draw on the life-affirming wisdom it affords.

Neurodiversity is yet another aspect of identity and relating that deserves sensitive care and consideration, an area in which I'm personally and relationally experienced, and growing in professional understanding.

Solo or Together

Counselling and psychotherapy are available for individuals, couples and more. If you wish to increase the health of your relationship but your partner doesn't want to engage in counselling, please know that you're welcome to attend sessions on your own, and take what you learn into your partnership. Sometimes this is the best we can do.

Let's Connect

If you're interested in exploring counselling or therapy in relation to your identity or relationships, please be in touch to arrange a free, 15-minute phone call to assess our goodness-of-fit. If for any reason I'm not the best person to serve you, I'll refer you to more suitable resources. Kindly call or email to arrange a free consult:

289-237-1596

Lara@LaraStewartPanko.com