You talk about your day, you talk about your week…that’s great, healing journey, check. BUT - you never get to the underlying stuff that’s driving it all.
Sometimes, especially when we are beyond ready for something to change, it can feel like the routine of weekly therapy alone does not allow the time, space, structure, and guidance to go beyond the repetition and daily happenings - to get to the heart of the matter.
You want to get to the heart of the matter! You want things to change!
You can experience a cycle of healing without having to wait 2+ years to get there.
Welcome to the Therapy Lab
A 4-session healing experience for overthinking young adults
You might want to experience a full cycle of healing about:
your social anxiety, that (probably) emotionally abusive relationship you were in, that loss you just can’t seem to get over, your stubbornly disordered eating habits, an incident from your childhood (your whole childhood!), being un-seen, unappreciated, diminished, under-valued and over-used - as a child, at work, in a relationship. More examples in the FAQ section!
No one is doing anything wrong.
So much happens every week! So many FEELINGS and THOUGHTS, so many tabs open…and the time seems to evaporate just getting through all of that.
And you can see the improvement, inch-by-inch, but you want something bigger to happen, sooner.
At this rate, it might be a million years before you actually feel different and know why the f you keep finding yourself in the same spiral of anxiety and self-doubt.
All the ways in which you are NOT actually “totally fine” =
Not-fine inside (you!) experience
You know that, from the outside, you’re keeping it together - you’re pretty much always “fine.” But on the inside, it’s a struggle that does not feel good for your mind or body.
Not-fine relationships
What is with these relationships where you give more than you receive, doing lots of things for lots of people? It seems you’re not asking for much, so then why do you keep ending up last, hurt, or disappointed?
Not-fine balance of taking care of yourself
There’s this “simple” thing that you’re annoyed at yourself for not doing way before this. Getting to bed earlier! Taking care of that pesky pain/medical issue (oh yeah, I do actually have one of those, I sometimes forget)! Putting your feelings and needs at the bottom of the list!
(Aaaaaand this is how you really feel on the inside)
NOT TO MENTION…
You basically have a PhD in overthinking, in fact, you’ve done several dissertations-worth of overthinking in your head.
You’ve said or thought this: “I am not a perfectionist, I just…”
You dismiss or gloss over your struggle (you know this is you if you got an immediate sense of, “yes, I DO do that!” and then another part jumping up saying, “nuh-uuuuh!”)
That dismissing might sound like: “why am I struggling, it’s not like I had so many horrible things happen to me. So many other people have had it so much worse! I’m fine, I should be able to get my shit together.”
You have a sneaking suspicion that you’re too hard on yourself, while another part of you might argue: hears that, snorts, and says, “you KNOW you can do better.” (rude!)
But Why?! If you’ve gotten this far, you probably relate. So how the heck did it come to this? You, my friend, are likely experiencing a convergence of the Triad of Overwhelm
Chances are you had a somewhat (to very) overwhelming childhood, maybe without even realizing it. If you were unseen - the one who’s fine, who doesn’t need any extra, who doesn’t make a scene or cause problems - that leads to understandable habits of over-responsibility and overthinking. And what does that lead to - you guessed it - big feelings of overwhelm.
The cherry on top of this shit mountain is the state of the world. Let’s be honest - we’re juggling a million things, and so much seems stacked against young people. It’s…that’s right, you got it - overwhelming!!!
Ahhh, society. There’s increasing spotlight on and backlash against this, but for most of your life, you were raised to believe that you need to EARN a sense of worthiness. That means you need to DO - a lot. And there are now approximately 11.5 million options for ways for us to prove our worth (or feel like we suck). This earning-worth race is an invisible, BS staircase. And that means no one ever feels good and safe, because you can’t get to the top. And that is, drumroll please…overwhelming!!
If you’re overthinking a ton, that probably means you learned an early lesson that checking was important…and then it got reinforced A LOT as you proceeded through life. Like this:
Check - how are the grown-ups doing?
Then check - do people like me, am I doing enough, am I making up for that way in which it feels like I did bad?
And now check - did someone leave me on read, do other people’s lives look more fun than mine on social, and oh yeah - how fast is the planet dying?
Ready to try something new?
Then I invite you to join me in the Therapy Lab!
The magic of the Therapy Lab is in stepping outside your day-to-day happenings and details, taking one thing and honing in on it for a sustained period of hours, over the course of a few weeks. That piece of healing will shift things in your system, and you will notice a difference.
Like learning the moves of a dance, once you go through this process, you will know that this kind of shift is possible.
Get clear and then un-stuck, begin to let go, get out of your own way, and stop the constant back-and-forth, spinning, getting lost in worrying.
When we are done with the process, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and clear progress, having done a piece of healing work on something that has been taking up too much of your mental space and energy.
At 2pm on a random day, you might feel the familiar tug of that cycle of overwhelm and over-thinking, but instead of getting lost, you notice it, pause, breathe, use the tool we’ve created together for you, and reset yourself much quicker than ever before.
You will also:
Be less bothered and triggered by it and similar stuff
Feel less like you have to avoid it and hate thinking about it
Feel more like you understand yourself
Beat yourself up less
And…
Learn how to better have your own back
Develop an inner touchstone or compass to turn to when you feel lost and confused, which leads to…
more confidence in your decisions
Less tabs open, less often =
less spinning in your mind
Have practices and a plan to continue, in small ways,
building upon and deepening the healing work you’ve done
Going into the lab with Julia
I am a thoughtful, versatile, playful guide in the lab, helping my clients find a new level of freedom. I use insight, wisdom, and metaphor to create understanding. I bring all my warmth and welcoming energy so that you feel right at home.
The Therapy Lab experience is structured in sandwich form (a delicious, healing sandwich):
Session #1 (top bun)
Create a memorable, durable, comforting resource
Begin to get it all out there
Develop your intention for this work and beyond
Session 1 gives you: the beginning of your inner touchstone so that you can come back to it and feel comfort and guidance whenever you’re struggling.
Session #2 (filling)
A series of not-your-average-therapy-session exercises, to get you looking and feeling differently about the same stuff that you’re stuck on
Express yourself with more than just talking: also write, imagine, move, make awful (and therefore excellent) drawings and scribbles
Session 2 gives you: healing for what needs it, so that you know the words that you need to hear to get out of overthinking.
Session #3 (bottom bun)
Build inner connection and support
Old > new beliefs
Doing some letting go (oh yes)
Session 3 gives you: compassion for past you, so that you can move towards the future and life that adult you wants
Extras (included with your sandwich)
Prep (sauces & toppings)
You’re going to be doing some exercises to prepare - all with clear, structured guidance. Independently:
Listen to some recordings - just experiencing something new, and doing few exercises
Decide what feels most important to YOU right now, so that you can connect to your own wisdom and confidence
Session #4: Follow-Up (dessert)
Eat when you have room = follow-up ~1 month after session #3
In our follow-up, we’ll check-in, notice and celebrate all the changes that have happened, wrap up any loose ends from your journey, and tweak things as-needed.
You’ll have a clear plan and path forward for how to continue on and amplify the healing, so your confidence and ease continue to grow.
The how of The Therapy Lab, start to finish:
Ask questions, connect if you want to set up a time to talk it through before making a decision, and/or begin the sign-up process by filling out the interest form.
I'll get back to you via a video to say hello and with answers to any questions.
Then we’ll have a 15m video chat, and if this work is for you, we’ll get you officially signed-up!
We will meet via a secure video platform for our sessions.
Therapy Lab time! We’ll have our sessions: #1 (1.5h), #2 (3h), and #3 (1.5h).
And we’ll close with a follow-up, session #4, which will happen within 30d of Session #3 (45m).
Scheduling
Wed is my favorite Therapy Lab day (9a-6p)
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri - there’s pockets of time available
Sat/Sun mid-morning to early afternoon = possible
Introductory price: $650
(For your strategic calculations, this is a very limited-time price - the only time it’s going to be at this price, and the lowest it will ever be)
Therapy Lab is great for you if:
You enjoy structured, active forms of support
You are excited about the idea of trying different things, other than all talking, in therapy (including at least some of the following: structured activities, closing your eyes, moving your body, expressing drawing, writing, etc.)
You want to be an active partner in your own growth and healing
You will be happy with tangible progress, but are not expecting complete healing or perfection
You are all set up with a regular therapist, coach, mentor, and/or friend(s) who provide you enough support on the day-to-day stuff that you (of course!) have to tell people about
You think you can develop enough trust with a fairly new person in order to open up and accept some support about the difficult stuff
You want to learn more about the steps of healing - the idea of seeing it happen as you walk through it in a short time - that feels intriguing, and empowering
Therapy Lab is not great for you if:
You are brand-spanking-new to therapy
You will need to feel that your thing is 100% finished (never to be seen or heard from again) in order to feel this was worthwhile
You are not ready to open up (talk about, express in other ways) about what you want healing on
The way your stuckness is presently showing up has you unable to get anything done (this deserves healing and attention, but this program is not the best fit if this is your dominant safety strategy, as this is a very active program; parts of you will dig in their heels, and so it won’t be effective)
Your life feels very chaotic
You feel annoyed or stressed out about the idea of having to do stuff outside of session time - either because that’s not your jam or because of your current schedule/time constraints
You don’t have a place/physical space to do this with excellent privacy, where you feel emotionally safe
FAQs
What should this be about?
Maybe, as you’ve been reading this, you’ve been thinking…sure, you gave a handful of examples at the beginning, but I need to know more - WHAT IS IT ABOUT?! I didn’t mean to keep you in suspense! Ultimately, I think you’ll have a sense of what you want it to be about - if not a clear answer, then a few options. But let’s talk about it more. Here are some categories. It can be about:
something you want to change, like
obsessive worrying
feelings of chronic overwhelm
social anxiety
feeling hectic, frantic, rushed, behind - even though, technically, it’s getting done
something you want to heal from, like
an incident/traumatic experience (like sexual violence)
an adverse or traumatic situation that went on for a while that you know is still impacting you
something you want to move on from, like
a bad relationship experience that feels like it’s part of a deeper pattern for you
an abusive relationship, a break up, a divorce, a friendship loss
something that’s not listed here, but it’s knocking on your door, saying, “but what about me?”
How much time is it going to take?
The Therapy Lab experience takes place over the course of 3 weeks. After that, there’s a follow-up meeting that happens within a month. During the 3 weeks of the program, it’s best to plan for about an hour outside/independent time, in addition to the session time, for totals like this:
Week 1: 2.5h (1.5 scheduled, 1 independent)
Week 2: 4h (3 scheduled, 1 independent)
Week 3: 2.5h (1.5 scheduled, 1 independent)
After week 3, in order to get the most out of your experience, plan for a daily practice (1-5m) for 30d.
Follow-up session: 1.5h (45m scheduled, 45m independent)
Will I have to tell the story of what happened?
You might be thinking that you know what you want this to be about, but the idea of sitting there and telling someone the whole story of it - no thanks.
Maybe it makes you sweaty because you’ve never done that before. Or maybe you’ve done it too many times; it’s exhausting, and you’re not really sure how much you get out of it when you tell it anyway.
The answer is: not…really. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I won’t be asking you to tell me the story of it. I will ask you to talk with me about what you want this to be about. If you’re not entirely sure, we’ll figure that out together.
Throughout the process, you will be expressing elements of your experience in some ways that are slightly different than traditional (vanilla) talk therapy. Think of it as a swirl cone (some vanilla/talk therapy) rather than just vanilla.
If you’re still unsure about the telling-your-story part of it, you might fill out the interest form and tell me something like, “I’m not sure about the telling my story part of it because…” and then let me know why, and we can sort this out together.
What about a refund?
I know this is a commitment, and it’s great to be cautious and thoughtful about getting something special and worthwhile out of your investment of time and money.
There’s so much information here, and lots of opportunities to ask as many questions as you need and really get a sense of if this is right for you and if it is likely to be a worthy investment - before you commit and pay.
The time we spend together can’t be taken back, so, likewise, there are no refunds.
Fill out the interest form to ask questions, see if this is a fit for you, and/or connect if you want to set up a time to talk it through before making a decision.
Or, if it feels more comfortable, get in touch via email: julia(AT SIGN)4outof4mentalhealth.com
Experience The Therapy Lab
You will experience a complete cycle of healing without having to wait 2+ years to get there.
Gain confidence without having to: wait until you’re old and wise, climb an actual mountain, or do a million affirmations that parts of you haaaaate…and that don’t stick anyway.
I’ll show you the moves and motions of a cycle of healing without deciding to just go ahead and become a therapist yourself.