Depth oriented therapy for those seeking to reconnect
Head • Heart • Body
I provide depth oriented therapy primarily (though not exclusively) to queer and/or trans clients that supports reconnection of head, heart and body, resulting in natural resolution of symptoms and increased emotional regulation.
Sometimes we lose touch with parts of ourselves. We learn to hide, adapt, or disconnect in order to feel safe, loved, or accepted. Over time, those patterns can leave us feeling disconnected from who we truly are. If you would like to know more about the process of coming home to your true self, read on…
Hello and thanks for visiting my website. I’m Janet Bystrom (LICSW) and I am the owner and sole practitioner at Bystrom Counseling and Consultation. I offer individual therapy in Minneapolis, MN and virtually throughout Minnesota. Drawing from the Neuro Affective Relational Model (NARM), I work with people navigating experiences of abuse, shame, anxiety, gender identity and sexual orientation, among other things. I will help you better understand the patterns that once helped you survive and gently support you to reconnect head, heart and body, enabling you to experience greater wholeness, aliveness, self-acceptance, and self-love.
I also provide supervision and consultation for therapists and trainings by request to professional groups. If you are seeking to deepen your capacity to support meaningful healing. I offer a collaborative space for self-reflection, learning, and developing new ways of approaching complex clinical work.
My Approach
Depth Oriented
I support my clients to shift life limiting personal and interpersonal patterns through depth oriented therapy that involves connecting head, heart and body.
Compassion Based
I deeply believe that symptoms serve a function and that change occurs when we accept our pain rather than try to solve it.
Curiosity Informed
When I am curious about you and you are curious about yourself, this acts like a solvent for the shame and guilt many of us have carried our whole lives. "How did you come to see yourself this way? “How has this served you?” And most importantly, “What do you most want for yourself?”
Specialties
Gender and Sexuality
I offer a warm, affirming space for people exploring gender, sexuality, and relationships, While many of my clients identify as queer and/or transgender, I welcome people from all walks of life. Together, we can explore what it means to feel more at home in yourself, your body, and your relationships. I also support clients considering gender-affirming medical interventions and can provide letters of support for established clients.
CPTSD
Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) appreciates how early challenges and unmet needs in life require us to adapt and that those adaptations become both a source of strength and vulnerability.
These adaptations can show up in the form of relational patterns such as overwork, high need for control, compulsive caretaking, perfectionism, rumination and people pleasing. CPTSD can also manifest as physical problems such as migraines, autoimmune conditions, chronic fatigue, and IBS, etc.
Mindfulness
As an adult, meditation and Buddhist principles such as mindful presence, acceptance, impermanence, non-duality (holding both/and) and interdependence have become meaningful parts of my own life. If you are interested, I’m happy to explore how these practices and concepts might complement your therapy.
I honor the steps you are taking
to live more the life
you want to live
Does this sound familiar?
I am easily overstimulated by lights, sounds or motion. I can easily spiral into dark places and it can take a long time to recover. I want to make changes but honestly don't feel I have the energy to do so.