Hi! I’m Anya.
Counselor. Clinician. Healer. Peer. Somatic psychotherapist. They are words for the same thing. I conceptualize my role as someone who humbly uses their education, nervous system, and life experience to help you move towards your definition of health. I help you identify patterns and release stuck points, all with acknowledgement that your suffering is an organic response to the life you have lived, and the knowledge that something else is possible.
You might benefit from working with me if you’re tired of dissociating or feeling so anxious all the time, if you’re going through a destabilizing life transition, or if you want to examine and unlearn social conditioning that taught that you or others are somehow invalid, or worth less.
If you are ready and willing to feel yourself and free yourself, I want to work with you.
The therapeutic journey—whether it’s for the first time or the fortieth—can be daunting, so I wish you the best in finding who and what you need. Read on to see if you’d like to invite me on yours.
Good question. A bowerbird is a type of bird that is native to Oceania. I probably learned about them in a nature documentary once upon a time. Part of their culture is to build a structure (a bower) out of grass and sticks and decorate the perimeter with vibrant found objects, often a collection of blue bits of trash.
I’m a big fan of color and picking up trash, and I’m also a sucker for a metaphor. I chose to name my practice after these birds because they can serve as an inspiration for how to reshape relationships with our internal wounds. Bowerbirds invite us to excavate our cut-off parts and experiences and integrate them into our lives as metabolized trauma that can be accepted, learned from, and woven into a life that is worth living.
What’s a Bowerbird?
Illustration by Taylor Wallau