Anita Guajardo, LCSW-S, EMDR-Trained Verified listing

You may have an almost instinctive ability to read the room and show up for others. It seems that doing so comes naturally, almost too easily, even when you want to put yourself first. It's something you may have learned from a very young age.   But now you're overlooking yourself while over-extending for others, and you're over it. Maybe you're waking up feeling inundated with demands and reminders of what others need from you before you've even splashed water on your face. Perhaps you've walked away from another work meeting feeling weighed down by piling tasks and expectations, wondering what contortions your schedule will have to make to fit them all in. Maybe during a brief moment of sitting in your car, you find it hard to ignore Fatigue's message that "you are running on empty." And you're reminded that your sleep and eating habits are not what you'd like them to be. It could be that in a moment with family, friends, or your partner, the thought, "they don't even know what I'm really going through," crosses your mind. You may have difficulty pinpointing the last time you had a "yes" day for yourself and enjoyed those hobbies that now seem distant in time. Maybe at night, when the world is turning down to rest, you're up thinking despite feeling tired. In that moment of external stillness, you're not still at all. You're feeling disconnected, dissatisfied, and disheartened. You're tired of giving from an empty cup and feeling unseen. You're tired of having the inner critic run your life with messages of "not enough." Somewhere along with the shuffle of a busy life, you've decided that you're ready for a lifestyle change. And here is where we cross paths.   I get you. I do. Both personally and alongside clients, I've been there too. That heavy worn-down feeling cloaked by a go-getter, cheerful, "team player" attitude, yup, felt it. As a bicultural, first-gen Mexican-American Latina with immigrant parents, I get it. I get growing up with the "ni de aqui, ni de alla" ("neither from here nor there,") feeling from time to time and having to unlearn the habit of overlooking personal needs and desires. I understand how difficult the "go-go-go" energy can be to slow down. I know it's often a journey of unlearning, healing, and reconnecting with others, and I'd love to support you with yours.   I work with anxious Perfectionists, unsettled Chasers of connection and calm, burned-out High-Achievers and Givers, and Silent Shifters who currently bend and twist for others at the cost of their wellbeing. With those who are grappling with their sense of worth, tugging internally with opposing feelings of "enough-ness." With folks who have suppressed their own needs, hushed their voices, and dampened their self-expression. I help those needing to overcome imposter feelings and a partial sense of belonging. I support those navigating first-gen experiences, breaking generational cycles, healing trauma, and who are exploring and integrating their cultural identities.   My approach is relational, collaborative, and creative and I personalize therapy for each client. I help integrate the needs, musts, and would-be-nice parts of their life. I offer practical self-awareness, self-compassion, and self-expression skills. And, as an EMDR-trained therapist, I can offer mind+body therapy to heal wounds and trauma that contribute to current challenges of underlying unrest. I welcome your whole self, acknowledge your story holistically, and offer trauma care where needed.

Anita Guajardo, LCSW-S, EMDR-Trained