A Warm Welcome. Start Here!
“Blake’s work is like being introduced to a friend. Along the way I realized that friend he was introducing me to, was myself.”
What this newsletter experience is about.
In my work as a therapist, I witness people doing the courageous work of journeying inward and facing hard things and making sense of those things and overcoming those things. Here is where we explore the nuances of the journey that I get to help people on a daily basis with. A journey that we’re all on in some way or another.
This a newsletter, an invitation, a guide, a community, an experience. A space that encourages you to journey inward and move towards wholeness. We’ll candidly explore the nuances of topics such as mental health, parenting, addictions, relationships, faith, creativity, trauma.
My goal for this space is for you to:
Become more curious and less critical toward yourself and others.
Engage your inner world on a deeper level.
Find beauty and meaning in the complexities of the “mundane.”
Discover some things. Put language to some things.
Hopefully laugh some along the way.
My biggest hope is that my words put language to the not yet spoken. To what it’s like internally for you. Or, at least, inspires you to put language to what it’s like.
What you can expect as a part of the community.
All content at this time is free. There may be bonus content and other things in the future for paid subscribers, but I don’t feel the pull to that just yet.
It currently exists in two parts:
Newsletter Experience
Ideally you’ll get two letters a month. Sometimes more, sometimes less, as that is what works for me in this season. The letters will be a combination personal essays, my clinical perspective & experience, current research regarding mental health, stories inspired by real people, and exercises that invite you to engage your inner world on a deeper level.
Notes
If you have the Substack app you can follow me on Notes which is where I’ll occasionally share “therapy thoughts”. These are shorter candid ponderings that come up during my daily work with clients. It’s also a great place to connect further with me and other readers and writers.
I have the privilege of helping people engage the most difficult, painful, complex, agonizing, and beautiful parts of their stories. Which also means I have a front row seat to explore what most people don’t get to experience - the “more” to the stories we are living. The parts we hide from others because we’re so good at protecting ourselves.
I’m passionate about exploring our inner world and the mystery of it and the beauty of it. More-so, inviting people back to the genuine core of who they are. That’s why I’ve created this space.
Who this space is for.
It’s for those is committed to doing the courageous work of engaging their story. It’s for those who are committed to becoming more self aware and expand their capacity to self regulate. It’s for those who long to understand themselves and those they love a little better. For those who want more self empathy and a kinder internal dialogue. For those who want to go a little deeper below the surface to find wholeness and presence.
About Me
I own a private practice outside of Nashville, TN where I live with my wife, our pup and our daughter who is 6mo. old at the time of writing this. I never thought I’d be doing this work as a therapist. I managed an art gallery and did photography for years before going to grad school and before that I was playing college football. By way of entering (rather desperately) into 12-step recovery, working through my own trauma, and the grace of God, here I am. I now can’t imagine doing anything else.
Some of the therapist stereotypes are true. I wear lots of sweaters and have a feelings chart in my office and say things like there’s a lot to unpack there, how does that make you feel, and there’s more to the story.
I have a Masters degree, and am still unsure where the commas are supposed to go in sentences - like should I have put one after degree or not? Most times I don’t care about the answer to that. If I ever When I write a book one day maybe I’ll learn.
I love music and grew up playing the drums. These days I listen to a lot of jazz, ambient music, and indie folk. The film that most recently inspired me is American Symphony on Netflix. It intimately follows Jon Batiste and
along a journey that so beautifully and creatively embodies the contrast of the human experience. That is, the experience of darkness and light co-existing with each other and how we can co-exist within that darkness and light in a way together. Trust me, watch it. Also go right now and subscribe to her SubstackI’d love for you to comment below and answer any or all of these. Your words are and experience are unique and this might be a way to further connect with someone.
- If you could have coffee with your 8 year old self, what is it you’d like to tell them?
- What is one of the most helpful things you’ve learned on your healing journey?
We’ll talk soon.
Hi! I really enjoyed reading your post. It resonates a lot with my mission... Thank you for sharing! I've just been accepted into my MFT Master 🙌 so excited!!! ... For some reason, I ended up here reading your post! I'm so glad that there are more people doing/sharing good things. - Btw, that comma doesn't belong there, hahaha (based on my practiced eye 😜). Looking forward to reading your post.
Your photo is very like the one of myself that I posted on my About page... Here we are showing ourselves in our words and simultaneously hiding ourselves in our photos! This post is a lovely start to what I'm sure will be a beautiful community. I'm glad to be here. 🤝😊