Full Life has merged with Charlottesville Integrated Psychiatry. Much like the mutual support Giant Sequoia give to each other and thus thrive this merger is way for both practices to support each other and do better than either could alone.

Spring invites us to move forward in our paths, it allows the thawing of Winter ice to free up our inner streams and is a time to make plans, re-engage in creative processes, clarify, make decisions so what’s within can be shared in safe connection with the outer world.

Full Life counselor Anna Schulman shares reflections on her own journey with ecotherapy.

“So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.” - Ecclesiastes 4.1

My pursuit of perfection was exposed as my main defensive strategy, what I thought would keep me safe. Freeing as I saw how this strategy kept me out of real relationship and provided a way through to something better.

I appreciate the feminist idea that the personal is political, and in that vein, talking about my experience of sexual abuse in a public setting is a political act, and hopefully, an act that frees other people from the burden of silence and gives them permission to speak about their experience.

Holding both the pain and possibility for growth can be inspiring to individuals who recently experienced a traumatic event, and this viewpoint can start to give survivors their power back.

For me, the music and movement allows grief and sorrow that can sometimes be stuck to move within me and resolve.

Mindfulness has become a recent buzzword for good reason. Claims about mindfulness include: better life satisfaction, relief from chronic pain, less stress, better work performance, weight loss, better learning outcomes for students, less conflict and world peace. These claims about mindfulness often seem too good to be true for such a simple practice. There is a growing body of research that is bearing many of these claims out and at the same time there is a growing skepticism and push back about its application.

You thought finishing school was the hard part, right? Now you have to navigate regulatory boards, official paperwork, and legal verification before you can sit down with a client and get to work. Applying for your resident license is a complicated, multi-step process, and you’ll likely make a mistake or have to do something over again along the way. It’s all going to be okay! I’m here to guide you through in the most straightforward way I can.

I am writing to ask for help about some serious problems that are close to my heart.