Name Origin
So(u)l Recovery is a recognition that liberation is not a one-time act, it is a constant practice. The so(u)l spelling honors both light and dark, sun and moon, creation and destruction, action and rest, grief and joy.
Sol (Sun in Spanish) and Soul. So(u)l is a proclamation that one cannot live without the other and that both energies are sacred; it also honors that when these two beings come together they embody a way of being beyond the binary.
In addition, Sol represents my service dog Sunny, the being who taught me how to love unconditionally, and is the shortened form of Soledad (Solitude in Spanish). I honor Soledad because Solitude has been the foundation of my own healing and because it was the name of my great grandmother who is survived by the memories of her playful warm laughter. It is also the name I will pass onto the next generation.
Counseling Approach
My approach first and foremost is based in my lived experiences in recovery, as a community organizer/abolitionist. I pull from a variety of modalities, and am theoretically eclectic.
I do not believe in quick convenient fixes. Offering that would be dishonest, false hope. Here, the healing is root deep. It will be painful, but you won’t be alone, and you don’t have to face it all at once. Here we honor progress not perfection. Here we see mistakes and relapses into old patterns, as sacred lessons about ourselves and our environment. While many of us strive for perfectionism to validate our worth and achieve safety, we sacrifice our humanity in the process. Here all that makes you human is celebrated.
My approach is to be honest and direct, but lead with curiosity and compassion. I see my experience and wisdom as an important contribution but not absolute truth. You are the one, ultimately, who knows what resonates and what does not. That intuition is something I will seek to help you develop by creating a space that welcomes conflict and tension.
You are welcome to this healing relationship however you come. If you are hopeless, at your wits end, I encourage you to reach out. I will hold onto hope and possibility for you. I will fight with you and for you. I will love you until you can love yourself, and slowly, you will see your soul recover, piece by piece, even when no conditions have changed around you.
