Re-Storying Yourself
When you tell the story of your own life, it might go something like this:
Growing up was a struggle.
Family life could be hard, and I often had trouble fitting in.
But then, I left home and dedicated myself to creating my own life by (finally) doing well in school (thank you, espresso—my first brain-enhancer for ADHD), establishing a career, and building my own relationships.
Is that your whole story? Are there parts you aren’t seeing about your childhood or your life today?
Are there pieces of your story you don’t think you can talk about?
Let me tell you a little bit of my own story. I think it will help you see your own story a little more clearly.
I grew up in a family of self-starters: farmers, tinkerers, and caretakers of cows (hence, the grainy photo of a young me and a few cows).
They all taught me about hard work and how to thrive in the natural landscape, but I didn’t necessarily learn how to tend to my own emotional landscape in those years.
Often, I felt like I was the only one struggling with big feelings. I thought I knew exactly what it meant to be alone “in the muck of stuff.”
When I was old enough to trade in my muddy farm boots for the shoes of a soul seeker, a world traveler, a college student, and a teacher, I thought I would leave the muck behind.
In my years living in a city as an educator, wife, mother, and therapist, I’ve learned something essential: no matter how clean or littered the sidewalk, we’re all just mucking through.
Those struggles
aren’t all in the past
You’ve worked hard and accomplished so much to get where you are today. Part of you thought that hitting a certain age, landing the right job, or finding a committed relationship would mean you’ve arrived at the point where life felt a little more... effortless.
In reality, life is as complicated - and as mucky - as ever.
You’re feeling the strain of trying to balance it all, and many days, it feels like you’re losing ground.
It’s important to take the time to look back on where you came from, reflect on what it taught you, and understand how it wounded and/or empowered you.
It’s just as important to examine where you are NOW and find a firm place to plant your feet.
In my case, I stay connected to my roots on the farm by keeping bees + tending chickens. The biggest difference between my life then and now isn’t the difference between an agricultural and an urban lifestyle.
It’s the difference between feeling emotionally isolated and knowing that there’s always someone I can go to for support.
I can help you access your past and work through the problems of the present.
I’m here to help you understand life’s “muck” for what it is and help you find your way through anxiety, major life transition(s), depression, sexual health struggles, and relationship conflicts.
Let's hold space.
Owner + Founder of SBCS
Approved Supervisor in the Practice of Clinical Professional Counseling (Maryland)
Licensed in Maryland + Delaware + New Mexico + Florida
Susan Stork is both the founder of Space Between Counseling Services and a Relationship Therapist working with Millennials, Xennials, Gen Xers, and Boomers through both individual and couples work with a deep focus on neurodivergent humans, folks struggling with sexual health, and trauma.
Susan specializes in assisting her clients to deal with stress, high-functioning anxiety, neurodiversity, trauma, and/or sexual health concerns.
Susan also adores working with those who identify as being “Black Sheep” – or what Susan dubs as “Black Unicorns”, trailblazers and family-disrupters, or first-generation pioneers, in addition to formally un-parented or under-parented adults.
Susan works with both Type A’s and those who identify as linear thinkers, as well as non-linear thinkers such as creative types and tinkerers. In addition, Susan works with self-identified geeks and nerds, polyamorous and kinky folks, the LGBTQIAP+ community, and culturally woke individuals.
Susan helps her clients balance busy schedules as they tackle stress and the modern challenges of their coupleship(s).
Utilizing Stan Tatkin’s PACT approach, Susan helps both her individual and couples move through the muck of life and into more abundant mindsets noticing and maintaining securely functioning relationships. Additionally, as a Certified Brainspotting clinician, Susan utilizes BSP to assist her clients in trauma processing and deep creative work.
As a former Baltimore City Schools educator, Susan deeply values lifelong learning and has completed 162 hours of study as a 2019-20 member of the Sexual Health Certificate Program at the University of Michigan.
In addition, Susan was selected by the PACT Institute in 2019 as one of only 25 PACT-trained clinicians worldwide to join the PACT Ambassador Program, promoting the PACT method of couples therapy to professional therapists and couples.
