Taylor Simon, AMFT, APCC

When suffering is all you’ve ever known, it can be hard to imagine that life could actually be better. The impact of toxic family dynamics in childhood follows us into adulthood and creates a distorted image of ourselves and the world around us. I say “us” because I’ve been there too. After feeling marginalized in my family and later going through an abusive relationship, I found myself in a painfully fractured place. I didn’t know how (or if) I could collect the seemingly broken parts of myself and create a whole, integrated being. But there was a dim yet undeniable spark inside of me that said, “There has to be more for me than this.” And so began my own journey into therapy to resolve childhood trauma. I was willing to excavate the most painful parts of my past so I could become the version of myself that I sensed already existed and desperately needed to be uncovered. The process was slow and challenging, but eventually, I started to find relief. I began to discover my unique gifts that were hidden behind all the hurt. As my own trauma recovery unfolded, I became fascinated with the resilience of the human spirit. It’s my unshakeable belief that although traumatic experiences can make you feel inherently flawed and broken beyond repair — the true self has a natural drive toward wholeness. This core belief informed my career trajectory. I earned my Master’s degree in integral studies and psychodynamic theory at the California Institute of Integral Studies(CIIS). Surprisingly, trauma courses are not part of the standard curriculum in many programs. So I intentionally sought them out because I always knew I wanted my practice to focus on therapy to heal childhood trauma and PTSD. As a result of my education at CIIS and training at UCSF, I’ve become a clinician that holds mysticism in a clinically grounded framework.