RUTH HIRSHBERG, MSW, RSW
You may be the one people count on. The one who handles things, keeps going and figures out what needs to happen next.
And you can still be overwhelmed. Exhausted. Struggling with something you don't know how to carry. Or so used to taking care of everything and everyone else that you can't hear yourself anymore.
You don't have to know exactly what you need before we talk.
I can be your ground until you find yours again.

You can tell me the thing you think you shouldn't be feeling. The resentment. The anger. The jealousy. The part of you that knows better and still doesn't feel any differently.
I've had thoughts and feelings I wished I didn't have too. I've known what it's like to think I should be handling something better than I am.
There is nothing you need to make more reasonable, more acceptable or more put together before you bring it here.
There is nothing you could say that will make me think badly of you.
I've spent years as a social worker sitting with people through complicated, painful and messy parts of their lives. I bring that experience with me. But I am not the expert on your life. You are.
My job isn't to give you my answer. It's to listen, ask questions, notice what might be hard to see when you're right in the middle of it, and sometimes challenge you when that's what you need.
Because underneath all the expectations, the second-guessing and everything you've been carrying, you often know more than you think you do. Sometimes you just need help hearing yourself again.
Each session is 60 minutes, virtual, and shaped around what you need that day. You don't need to prepare what you're going to say or arrive with a goal. We start where you are.
We'll begin with a few minutes of breathwork to help you arrive and settle into the space. You don't have to rush straight from whatever was happening in your day into talking about something difficult.
This is where we spend most of our time. You might bring something you're struggling with, a decision you can't seem to make, a pattern you keep finding yourself in, or just the feeling that something isn't right. We'll talk, get curious and untangle things together. I may ask questions, reflect something back to you or help you see what you're experiencing differently.
Before you go back to your day, we'll come back to the breath. Not because everything needs to be resolved or you need to leave feeling good, but because I don't want to open something difficult with you and then simply say, “Okay, our time is up.”

I'm a Registered Social Worker with a Master's degree in Social Work, and throughout my career I've sat with people during some of the hardest moments of their lives.
That experience taught me something I carry into every conversation: I can't know what's right for you just because I'm the professional. That means meeting you where you are, understanding what you're carrying and working with you from there.
My professional experience isn't the only thing that shaped how I do this work. I've been through hard things too. I know what it feels like to struggle, to not know what to do and to feel alone in it.
I'm comfortable being with you there. I don't need to rush you toward feeling better or turn what you're going through into a lesson. Sometimes you need help finding your way through something. Sometimes you need a different way of looking at it. And sometimes you need someone who can sit with you while it's hard.

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