Karel Chan, LMHC, LPC

You feel worried and anxious all the time. Always anticipating the worst, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It feels like no matter what you have, no matter what you do, you can’t be happy and enjoy your life. Maybe you’re going through a life transition — aging, breakup or divorce, heartbreak, loss — and you feel like you don’t know who you are anymore. Or you’re struggling in a relationship, feeling frustrated with dating, or dealing with painful family conflicts. Whatever it is that you’re struggling with, your experience of suffering is rooted in the mind. Anxiety, depression, shame, insecurities, and low self-worth all arise from negative thoughts and feelings that have become so deeply ingrained in the mind that they feel like the truth. The very painful truth. But thoughts and feelings are not the truth — they’re activities of the mind. Mindfulness, at its core, is the practice of observing the mind’s activities, including all of those negative thoughts and feelings, to realize that you are more than the mind. You are more than your thoughts and feelings. You are more than anxiety, depression, the pain and conflicts in your life, or the trauma that your mind and body are holding on to. From the wisdom I’ve gained through my own mindfulness practice, healing, and transformation, I work with you to overcome the negative thoughts, painful emotions, and unhealthy patterns that prevent you from living the life you want — and deserve — to live. You don’t have to be “an anxious person” anymore. You don’t have to live with “your depression” or “your shame” anymore. You don’t have to feel burdened by events from your past anymore. Through mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, insight and inner child work, and a compassionate humanistic approach, I will guide you in understanding how and why the mind works the way it does, then learning how to train — yes, train! — the mind to respond to pain and life stressors in an empowered, confident, and healthy way. If you’re ready to begin this healing work, I’d love to meet you.