about

Brave Space Therapy takes its name from an article about ‘brave spaces’ by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens.

A core tenet of the article was that the goal of safety, being free from harm or risk, is often incompatible with healing. By aiming for safety we are avoiding the difficult emotions and experiences that cause us distress. We as humans crave the space to be honest and give voice to our strong emotions. Aiming for safety stops us once we feel uncomfortable, when it’s that exact discomfort that needs to be explored to facilitate our growth.

Instead of aiming for safety, a more appropriate intention is to aim for courage. Within this intention is the commitment to being vulnerable, non-defensive, and open to different perspectives. There is no promise of psychological safety, and in fact, there is an acknowledgement that it will likely be painful to discuss some of these topics, that courage will be necessary in certain moments.

We think of our job, as your therapist, as creating the conditions for you to be brave. It’s important to feel that you won’t be judged, that your therapist cares about you and remembers the details of what you shared, and that you have someone who is on your side while also being objective and pointing out different perspectives. Our job is to balance all of these considerations and to help guide both of us to the roots of your pain. It’s where the pain resides that the healing needs to happen and it’s hard to talk about our pain — it requires us to be brave.