Therapy for the Talking Stage

Therapy in Rockville, MD and Online Throughout Maryland, Virginia, DC & Pennsylvania

You’ve spent years managing your family’s emotions and needs, but aren’t as clear on your own.

You’ve been mindful of and tried to manage your family's emotions since you were a child. You learned to read the room and anticipate how others would feel. Yet, you didn’t get the chance or learn how to sit with and share your own emotions and needs. Everyone else is taken care of and you just want the same in return, but unfortunately, no one in your family knew how to do the same for you.

Hijabi sitting at a creek bank engaged in self-reflection.

Now, you hold the belief that you don’t get to have your desires and needs met. Especially if it conflicts with what others want, it comes at the cost of tension, disappointment, or someone being upset with you. Voicing your needs and wants never felt safe or allowed. It has been easier to adjust your needs to fit others to avoid conflict.

You feel like you have to be “easy going” to get by.

Hijabi walking in a field towards the sunset feeling at peace.

In the search for the person you want to spend your life with, you know what you want and what feels right, like taking things slow or moving more quickly, wanting to be direct about your feelings, share concerns about the relationship, but you’re afraid to because voicing a conflicting need risks the same discomfort and conflict you learned to avoid as a kid.

As a result, you default to the pace of the person you’re getting to know and end up feeling unsatisfied or like you’re not yourself. You may even find yourself saying “I don't really want things in relationships. I’m happy if the other person is happy,” or “I’m easy going,” or “I don't really have preferences about that,” and it starts to feel like it’s who you are.

But deep down, you know you don’t want to live in this cycle, you just don’t know why it keeps happening or how to do things differently. You’re ready to get to the root of what’s causing it so you can find the person you’re meant to be with and be comfortable being yourself with them.

If you’re ready to learn about pricing and scheduling, see fees page.

Connect with Us

I'm ready to break these cycles!

You want to do something different…but what does that actually look like?

Deep down, what you’re really wondering is “How can I life as myself without ending up alone?” It’s possible to be loved and be happy as your true self. You can have a marriage with a person that you know is a good fit for you and considers your needs. Someone you can be comfortable with and not have to be vigilant of their emotions and reactions. You can have a relationship with your family where you aren’t walking on eggshells.

You will finally feel like you are enough as you are.

In therapy, we’re going to dive deep to understand what the patterns are that you’re stuck in repeating. This isn’t just a personality trait or as a result of a one off bad talking stage. This is a result of learning to make yourself smaller and more palatable for others to prevent being seen as difficult or a burden.

Part of your work in therapy is going to be building tolerance for the risk of voicing your needs and feelings, testing in low-stakes moments, to prove to yourself that you can have the things you want and prove to your nervous system that you can manage and survive when people don’t respond how you’d like. We’ll also work to help you realize that you have more agency over your life and live accordingly.

The life you want isn’t that far out of reach.

Connect with Us

Let's get started!