Everyone Matters. And so do you.
Does any of this sound familiar?
You deeply care about your loved ones, and it brings you joy to support them. You also strive to be a reliable and considerate team member at work, lending a helping hand. People know they can count on you. This is the person you aspire to be.
However, you sometimes find yourself slipping into an “OVER” mode. You overextend yourself, neglecting your needs, which can become overwhelming, draining, and stressful. While you do all this for people, projects, and causes you care about, it feels like this can’t go on forever.
How does this manifest in your life?
Your Body
You might experience tensed jaws, headaches, sweating, insomnia or palpitations. Maybe you feel apathetic, detached, numb, or utterly exhausted. Maybe you oscillate between periods of high functionality followed by low energy days or weeks.
Your Communication
While you excel at being nice, empathic, accommodating and seeking consensus, it can be challenging in moments when you want to assert boundaries, address mistreatment, say “no”. Identifying your needs can be a struggle, as well as effectively communicate them in a way that garners respect.
Your Relationships
You often find yourself helping and supporting others, taking on someone else’s tasks, neglecting your own needs. Some relationships leave you feeling belittled or manipulated, unseen or unacknowledged. Sometimes leading to resentment towards others for their lack of gratitude or reciprocity.
Your Work
You strive to be creative, show up, and speak up. However, overwhelming workloads, stress, and accommodating others' needs and emotions often hinder your progress. S truggling to find work-life balance and say when you are overtasked or mistreated becomes a recurring challenge.
You Emotions
You may feel guilt or shame for not doing enough for others, for prioritizing yourself, or for not being nice, empathic and accommodating enough. You might experience impatience, frustration or outbursts. You might feel fear of people scolding or leaving you for not doing enough for them.
Your Free Time
Recharging and fulfilling activities often take a backseat. You might set new resolutions for daily meditation or date nights, attempting to follow the recommendations of self-help books or workshops, and the new intentions work initially, but often don't last. Dreams of hobbies, personal projects, and a bath frequently remain unfulfilled.
If you resonate with these patterns, you’re not alone
This is not an individual issue but a social phenomenon rooted in the interplay of gender education, brain functioning, and women’s psychology, which collectively shape our behaviors and experiences:
- Culture – Many of us were raised in a cultural and family environment that emphasized women being kind, supportive, and self-sacrificing, leading to neglecting our own needs.
- Psychology –These patterns of gender education often impact women’s unique psychology. As we grew up, many of us developed survival mechanisms and coping strategies that resulted in excessive agreeableness, difficulty setting boundaries, and taking on excessive responsibilities.
- Body – These patterns interact with our nervous systems and brain functioning, shaping them and being shaped by them.
Challenging, but I have some good news!
Through the integration of feminist therapy, habit change, and neuropsychology, we can deconstruct conditioned patterns and rewrite them. I empower women to cultivate new mental fitness habits, boundary-setting skills, and daily routines that enable them to break free from old habits and embody the women they wish to become.
I am a multidisciplinary professional. I am an embodied facilitator, a feminist social worker (MSW) with expertise in resilience, and a cultural researcher exploring the intersections of gender, body, and women’s psychology.
Over the past decade, I have worked with women worldwide, providing a holistic approach to support them on their journey of breaking old patterns and embracing new ways to care for others while prioritizing their own needs, boundaries, and passions.
I practice what I teach—I’m a recovering overgiver. I was there, and I know the way out.