Halcyon offers counseling to hold space for folks who spend their time taking care of others, keeping all the plates spinning, while putting themselves last.
I provide online individual therapy to help you explore what type of life YOU want to live – and the support to help you get there.
There’s an expression I’ve heard before that resonates with my own approach to life: “The good news is I’m pretty much who I say I am. The bad news is I’m pretty much who I say I am.” I am genuine. I genuinely care and am genuinely invested in my clients and their goals in our work together.
I like to say that I’m not a Stepford therapist. You can trust that my responses during our sessions won’t be fake or robotic, and I won’t try to Pollyanna anyone.
I’m weird! I like to reference anything from TV and movies to memes during counseling – whatever is the most relatable and gets the point across. The cringier and cornier, the better. We’re a good fit if you only roll your eyes at my jokes 60% of the time.
Hi! I’m Shylah Ridgway, LCSW, and my pronouns are she/her. For better or worse, I’m a real person. I show up just as I am.
We are so often socialized to fit ourselves into roles and boxes that put other people first. But finding a true sense of belonging and identity is something different altogether. Belonging means being able to show up exactly as you are, with every piece of your identity being accepted and valued.
I provide counseling where you can be seen, heard, comfortable and relieved to be in a space free of judgment with someone who finally “gets” you.
I specialize in online individual therapy for women and LQBTQIA+ adults who have been repeatedly forced to fit themselves into places they don’t belong.
LIFE TRANSITIONS
RELATIONSHIP CHALLENGES
SELF-ESTEEEM ISSUES
DEPRESSION
ANXIETY
TRAUMA
GRIEF
STRESS
PROFESSIONAL DIFFICULTIES, LIKE IMPOSTER SYNDROME & BURNOUT
I offer women’s counseling and LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy, utilizing Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help you navigate:
It feels like a hard life is your destiny because of the trauma in your past. You want to break the cycle of that generational trauma, but you don’t know where to start.
You feel like are failing at everything, when, in fact, you’re killing it. Despite being as close to perfect as possible in your daily tasks, you’re constantly procrastinating and feel dread about even the little things because it’s all too much.
You worry that the plates in the air will fall, and everyone will realize you are incapable and incompetent.
You spend your time doing everything for everyone else, while neglecting yourself and never feeling like you have done enough.
Does this sound familiar?
I’ve made it through really tough things and come out the other side, which is why I’m so passionate about my work as a therapist.
Through our work together, I’ll help you move from a feeling of inadequacy, fear, and exhaustion to being seen, heard, and empowered to embrace who you truly are.
I'm here to tell you that I've been there.
A Halcyon is a kingfisher bird that actually does exist. It’s colorful and beautiful and unique – like all of us. But it has meaning in mythology, too, as a bird that can build its nest amidst the cold and wind of a wintry ocean each year. The Halcyon is a reminder that we can find that peace in our identities, our authentic selves, even in the middle of a chaotic world.
The idea of release. is a little more personal to me. It’s a mantra I tell myself to guard my inner peace – a reminder to let go of the things that don’t serve me anymore. I intentionally place a period at the end of the word because it’s a complete sentence. If the thought, the situation, the choice isn’t authentic for me and what I need, I let it go.
We all have that kind of intuition, guiding us toward our most authentic selves, but we’ve been taught to drown it out for the sake of conformity, comfort, or even safety. I can help you hear to that little voice and find the wisdom that’s already inside you.
