Women’s Issues Therapy
Boulder, CO
Takeaway: As you know firsthand, moving through the world as a female can come with unique challenges. Women’s counseling in Boulder can be your safe haven to process your experiences, explore your emotions, and connect with your most authentic, embodied self. We welcome any individual who identifies as a woman to connect with our team of holistic therapists.
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Finding your joy and resilience as a woman in today's society is crucial to staying deeply connected to your core essence. Society often pressures women to fit into very specific gender molds, which can result in additional anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia. Learn more below about how a women's counseling center can help you achieve the freedom, creativity, and empowerment that is your birthright.
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Sensitivity and empathy have been natural parts of your personality since you can remember. It's been difficult, feeling the world around you so deeply, and also trying to harden your emotions so that you can be powerful and successful.
Some of your life experiences include:
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Feeling other people's emotions almost instantly, especially sadness.
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Struggling to understand what's your emotions and the emotions of others. This has caused you to feel responsible for trying to fix or heal other people because you feel liable for their happiness.
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Taking on roles as a helper, healer, or martyr, and feeling guilty if someone is hurting and you might be able to do something about it.
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Helping others makes you feel good, but sometimes you can sense underlying resentment in your body. This is because, deep down, you'd love for someone to support you the same way you offer care to others.
Beyond the increased sensitivity and awareness that some women carry, women often experience these unique life challenges as well:
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Feeling pressured to move quickly into marriage, pregnancy, and motherhood, and not feeling empowered to choose their own timeline
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Receiving programming from parents, teachers, and coaches that they aren't as strong, intelligent, or brave as men
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Being highly sexualized and bombarded with ads, movies, magazines, and social media that hyperfocus on young, euro-centric beauty standards
Women’s therapy can help you identify all the ways you've been programmed to go outside of yourself for validation and success and help you find the emotional and spiritual freedom you long for. Being a woman means you have limitless potential to define who you are and celebrate your unique abilities.
Reach out today to learn more about how women's counseling can support your healing journey.
Does this sound like you?
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A Note from Xandra Hawes
Holistic Female Therapist in Boulder, CO
For me, achieving great mental health as a woman meant creating a loving, empowered home inside of myself so I could exist outside the confines of gender norms. As a woman over six feet tall, I constantly struggled with the societal programming that women were expected to take up less space. I was incredibly driven, consistently in advanced classes, and excelled in athletics.
In my teens, I was already questioning how I was supposed to be successful AND a woman simultaneously because I thought women needed to be gentle, small, and flexible to be liked and valued by society. It was a painful feeling, assuming I had to be less powerful to be accepted.
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In my 20s, I began studying women's holistic health and gained an in-depth understanding of the female cycle and its sacred connection to nature. It became clear that women's intuitive and somatic intelligence about their bodies has been ostracized and silenced by many Western medical communities. Many women I begin to work with assume that painful symptoms during menstruation are normal - they are not. Through our work together, we explore what the body is trying to share and how to understand its language resulting in vibrant health and wellness.
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We work with many women across the spectrum, including women of color, queer and trans women that are redefining their own standards and goals for their minds, hearts, and bodies. We also work with teenagers (12+) and college students primarily at CU Boulder looking for womens counseling.
Talk therapy
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Speaking your inner dialogue out loud allows you to process your thoughts and insights and might include Contemplative Psychotherapy, Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
Mindfulness practices
Mindfulness awareness practices are hugely beneficial to helping you develop the ability to disrupt, pause and release old thought patterns that no longer feel helpful.
Meditation
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Developing a meditation practice with a women's therapist can help you develop a deeper connection to your intuition, and recognize the difference between other people's energy and your own.
Energy work & somatic grounding practices
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Learning where you hold stress, tension, and repressed emotions allows us to make a map of where blockages hold you back from your full freedom and integration of your soul self. Becoming familiar with your energy body and learning how to release energy is hugely beneficial for clear thinking and empowered decision-making.
Guided meditations
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Guided imagery and using the right brain to tap into emotions and different parts of our conscious and unconscious mind can result in the processing and releasing of stored patterns in our nervous system, muscles, organs, and chakras.
Frequently Asked Questions
About women’s therapy
Do you offer in-person sessions?
Yes, we currently have in-person sessions available in Boulder, Colorado and we can work with any resident of Colorado (online or in-person).
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Do you take insurance?
Our practice is considered an out-of-network provider. However, some insurance companies will reimburse you for a percentage of meetings depending on your plan and deductible. We are happy to provide a "superbill" that you can submit to insurance for partial or full coverage. We also accept all major credit cards and HSA cards.
I’ve never talked to anyone before. I’m used to dealing with things by myself. Aren’t people who go to therapy weak?
It's quite the opposite. It often takes a lot of courage and vulnerability to ask for help and to allow other people to see our emotions and fears. You can absolutely heal yourself on your own, but it often takes longer. Imagine this: You decide to move homes and need to move your things from one space to another. Will you get your things moved if you do it on your own? Absolutely. Will you get it done twice as fast with another person that is committed to helping? Definitely. Finding the right therapist and working with them consistently can allow you to move energy, shift patterns and see different perspectives that might take far more time on your own.
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I'm debating about taking medication for anxiety and depression. Will that help me feel better?
Although medication can be beneficial for some, it often takes time to find one that fits your body. Additionally, although some people may feel relief from symptoms, changing your life and healing fully often requires that we address the root causes causing the anxiety or depression so you have your full freedom from the issues rather than being reliant on medicine.
What is considered women’s issues in therapy?
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Common challenges faced by women that seek support are:
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postpartum depression
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emotional regulation and empowerment
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body image issues and body dysmorphia
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sexual harassment
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relationship issues
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eating disorders
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anxiety
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infertility
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depression
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domestic violence and sexual abuse
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motherhood
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trauma
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pregnancy
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relationship challenges with a partner and/or children
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other mental health concerns, such as mood disorders
What are common mental health concerns in women?
Women are at a greater risk of certain mental health disorders. According to the American Psychiatric Association, women are twice as likely to experience Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and PTSD as men. Additionally, 85-95% of people diagnosed with Bulimia or Anorexia Nervosa identify as women.
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Women are more likely to be caregivers and caretakers, meaning they experience higher levels of compassion fatigue and burnout in connection with caring for loved ones, family members, and clients within caregiving industries. Currently, women earn less than men overall in the workplace and 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual or physical violence.
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Working with a female therapist at a women's counseling center that understands these additional pressures and disparities can help provide a safe space for you to process your feelings and unique experiences.
Is it normal to prefer a female therapist?
Yes, it is normal for women to prefer a female therapist when seeking mental health services. When seeking therapy, clients often look for someone that identifies in the same way and that has clinical or personal experience with the issues they are hoping to heal and overcome. Often, many clients that have had traumatic or painful experiences with men will seek a female therapist because it feels safer. Women that have been treated poorly by men or experienced sexual or physical abuse will also seek out a women's counseling center to heal relationship issues and to receive extra support and guidance.
Ultimately, choosing a therapist is a personal choice, and you should work with whomever you feel most comfortable with.
Reclaim your purpose with women counseling in Boulder, CO
Reclaiming your deep inner knowing and soul connection to your best self is your birthright as a woman.
If you would like support in overcoming mental health challenges, reach out to our women's counseling center today for your free consultation call.