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Lush Hills
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Therapy with Justin

Welcome! I’m Justin. As a sensitive person, what I've discovered is that my greatest strength is in connecting with and understanding people. This responsiveness helps me create with you a calm, safe, and supportive space for you to explore the hard things, and to grow at a pace tailored to your needs.

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LGBTQ+ affirming. I respect the inherent dignity and worth of each person, and I work to offer therapy attuned toward suffering in all forms—personal, relational, sociocultural, and systems of oppression.

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If you've never been to therapy, you might wonder what it's all about. Even if you have been in therapy previously, every therapist brings their own style and experience to their approach. Below is a poem I’ve written, called Two Shorten the Road, to try give a sense of what therapy with me is like from a zoomed-out, or even hindsight, perspective.

Two Shorten the Road

Two Shorten the Road

a poem, by Justin Grotheer

Softening, allowing, loving, and healing

Toward the parts of us that have suffered

And been hurt,

That are still hurting

 

From experiences small and large,

Some of overwhelm and unwanted aloneness;

Others of loss, or betrayal, or unmet needs

Of not feeling safe, seen, or heard

loved, valued, or respected

 

With all the sadness, shame, and guilt,

Anxiety, and defenses that grew out of it

 

It’s hard to soften toward those parts of us

We just want the feelings to go away

We run and hide

Push the feelings down

Consume, numb ourselves out

Or the feelings take over completely

And carry us away

 

Relentlessly chasing the missing pieces

Stumbling after a sense of feeling safe, seen, and significant

Finding it for a moment

Holding on so tight...

Only to feel it slip away

And oh, how we take up the chase again!

 

The parts of us that hurt are hard to be with

It’s hard to soften toward anger, and resentment

Toward the fears in us

Toward the parts of us that vehemently exclaim,

I am never going to let THAT happen again

Toward the parts of us that are still running, hiding, walling off

 

It’s hard to soften toward sadness, and regret

Toward the memories of loved ones who let us down

Especially those we trusted

Or important people who were supposed to be there for us

Friends, family, partners, or parents

who were supposed to protect us

But didn’t

Or worse, who hurt us

 

And still,

Something healing and transformational happens

When we sit with those hurting parts of us

—not as enemies—

But as caring friends

Being with the hurting, sensitive parts that need us

 

Simply allowing those feelings to be there,

Without shame, without guilt

Without the urgency to run away or change them

 

Then, with curiosity, from our best selves,

We say to them,

It’s ok

I’m here for you

Let me walk you home...

 

It is a sacred act

To sit fully present...

Softening, allowing, and loving

In the hard places

 

Learning to love ourselves whole

—again,

Or for the first time

 

To see the best of me

—that is already here

Embrace it, know that it is true

And live boldly from it

 

©Justin Grotheer Therapy

Two Shorten Poem
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