I found myself oriented toward curiosity. I would observe the world around me, and for every question I had, two more would arise. As I grew and was confronted with life’s circumstances, my questions took on what I would later learn were existential in nature: Why do we suffer? What does it mean to be free? What is meaning if life has none?

As I navigated these questions for myself, I began to notice how much of what I came to believe about who I was developed outside of my conscious awareness. My ancestry, culture, and early relationships quietly informed how I understood myself, others, and my place in the world. I came to see how deeply relational this process is, and how meaning is often formed in relationship long before we have language for it. In this growing awareness, I could see the meanings I inherited, the ones I constructed as a child to survive, the ones that had felt like someone else’s, the ones weighted with shame, and the ones that felt just out of reach. When I sat with them, I also found myself with the opportunity to choose. To create a sense of who I was, who I am, and who I am still becoming.

This orientation toward inner-knowing and meaning-making remains central to my work as a psychotherapist. I believe that sustainable change occurs when we become more aware of, and more able to relate to the parts of ourselves, others, and the world that we unknowingly hide from, push against, or disown. Through relationships, these patterns and beliefs become more visible and therefore more available for reflection and change.