What does “At the Intersection of Physical & Mental Health” mean?

Physical health issues, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, ALS, infertility, or many other illnesses, interact directly with mental health issues.  In fact, the interaction can be pretty circular.  Receiving a diagnosis of serious illness can lead to feelings of fear, depression, or anxiety.  Coping with treatment for serious illnesses can be stressful, exhausting, and frustrating.  Depression and anxiety can both complicate healing.  This is also true if you are the caregiver for someone who has a serious illness.  So, physical health affects mental health and mental health affects physical health.  We are whole human beings, with minds, bodies and spirits.  When we are ill, our whole self is affected.

Because of this circular interaction, making sure that you have adequate emotional and mental support can be a crucial tool in coping with your physical illness.  That is where my practice comes into play.  Throughout my career, I have worked with clients to best understand their whole health picture.  Early experiences doing therapy in an integrated health center and coping research with breast cancer patients highlighted for me the role of therapy as an adjunct to medical treatment.

So, if you are affected by a serious illness, either as the patient or as a caregiver, I hope to serve as a resource to you.  Please feel free to use the resource links, to browse the blog for helpful articles, or to contact me with a question.

About Me

I am a licensed counseling psychologist practicing in the midtown area of Kansas City, MO. My goal in therapy is to create a safe, supportive environment for my clients.

I believe that therapy provides several key benefits. The first is the opportunity to explore challenging life issues with a caring, neutral listener–someone whose only agenda is your overall health. Another benefit is the opportunity to explore difficult experiences in a safe setting. Therapy can become a “box” to hold issues that are too painful to explore in other settings. Finally, therapy provides the benefit of an objective outside perspective, which can bring new insight about life’s challenges.

As I mentioned above, my practice specialties include the intersection of physical & emotional health, grief & loss, and infertility.  I firmly believe that our emotional and physical health are strongly related.  There is great research supporting this belief.  So one of my primary goals in my practice is to create a space for those who are coping with serious or chronic health issues to receive support and gain understanding of how their mind and body affect one another.