A Bit About Audrey...
Hello! I’m Audrey Olzak (they/them), and I am a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern from Lewis and Clark College. I hold two bachelor’s degrees, one in Psychology and the other Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies from the University of California, Davis. My previous work has been in outreach to people affected by sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking, and homelessness. I identify as nonbinary, White, neurodivergent, and chronically ill.
I practice from a body-neutral, sex-positive, gender-affirming, trauma-informed, and anti-racist standpoint, because I believe each and every person is entitled to a good and meaningful life, free of subjugation. I enjoy working with the many different ways people show up in relationships, including polyamory, ethical non-monogamy, and monogamy; BDSM, kinky, and vanilla; LGBTQIA+ and straight; disabled, abled, you name it. I am especially passionate about the relationships people have to each other, but work with families, relationships, and individuals 16+ alike. I employ attachment-based and emotionally focused therapy, based in systems theory, interpersonal neurobiology, intersectionality, queer theory, and feminist theory. This means that I work with you in the context of your life, paying attention to how the systems you are embedded in (such as your body, your family, your community, your job, your identities) are affecting your mental well-being.
My therapeutic practice is rooted in compassion and empathy. In a world fractured by hardship and violent conflict, authenticity, kindness, and understanding are vital to maintaining connections to our friends, family, and loved ones. When suffering occurs in our lives, whether physical or mental, it is partially through these connections that we can heal. Suffering comes in many forms, and the emotions that accompany it can be taken as messages from our bodies and minds that can lead us to the source. What I aim to do in our time together, is work with you to identify and interpret those emotional messages, and then to follow you to the source of suffering and process what we find there.
My role in our work together is like a tour guide – I have a general map of the human experience and know multiple different pathways that lead to these different places. But ultimately, I work with you to determine where to go and how to get there. What is the “terrain” like? What sort of obstacles might be encountered, and what do we do when we get there? I come in with this information, but you have the power to choose amongst all these options. I look forward to doing this work with you!
