Welcome to my blog!
Hello and welcome to the Familiar Paths Counseling Blog. I am Erica, the owner of Familiar Paths Counseling, and I provide mental health services via telehealth to clients who live in New Hampshire. A little about me: I am currently live in southern California with my husband Richard and our two year old goblin, whose passions include sitting in boxes, building Lego towers, and diving in ball pits. We are very proud of her and look forward to how she is going to run the world someday as a chaotic neutral despot. We used to have a cat as well; however, she crossed the rainbow bridge two years ago and while I don't believe in ghosts, there is strong evidence to support that my former cat's spirit possessed my daughter and refuses to leave. Some proof includes: goblin will sit in any box you put in front of her, no matter how small; goblin will steal food WHILE you are looking at her doing it; and goblin will keep persisting at a task until she gets her way (unless a more attractive distraction presents itself, such as a cookie or saying "outside?").
Some important ways that I identify myself include that I am afab, bi, and neurodivergent (aka I have "spicy brain") in the form of AuDHD and was diagnosed later in life. I have struggled quite a lot adapting to a world that was not designed for me. I have failed many times and my ego has taken quite a beating since I was a kid. That being said, I have bounced back every time, and I am terminally persistent. Generally, after a few failed attempts at something, I will change tactics and try again. As a therapist, that means I can more readily adapt to frequently changing needs from my diverse clients. Also, because of my neurodivergence, I have a huge capacity to empathize and relate to hardships of many kinds. I use humor a lot as a result and that can either enhance my rapport or... in some cases, my humor falls flat, so I also suffer from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. Unfortunately, there's no cure, and the only remedy is to think before being a dumbass, which is possible to do but only 50% of the time.
The reason I am starting a blog is that I have a lot of ideas related to mental health as well as my other interests, and I want to share them with others! This includes mental health providers as well as anyone who happens to stumble in here randomly. As I venture into this pseudo-journal blog, I will do my best to maintain consistent ethics and boundaries. There is a fine line here between appropriate self-disclosure and questionable content. So, for each post I write, these are some guidelines I am using to help me stay focused and not wander too far from the point:
Write about one topic per post
Limit to 700 words per post
Be authentic and be fair to self and others
Be mindful of limitations and competencies (i.e. don't act as an expert in areas outside my scope of practice)
I'm sure I'll think of others as I go on in my journaling. In the meantime, I look forward to the next topic.
Happy Trails!
~Erica
This is me! Without my glasses! I am in one of my comfort hoodies, wearing comfy headphones to block out sounds that are overstimulating, and crocheting with mustard-yellow yarn (Caron Simply Soft, for those wondering). This WIP (or "work in progress" for those who don't crochet or knit) is a crossbody messenger bag that I plan on adding embroidered mushrooms to later. Mushrooms are not only delicious on a pizza or marinated in gravy, they are funny little organisms that do SO MUCH for keeping our environment clean and healthy. Plus, they are cute as all heck!