Choosing Presence in 2026

And here we are, yet again, another year gone. As everyone says on repeat this time of year, the year flew by.

This year was different.

This year was filled with a lot of growth and a lot of difficult moments and decisions. I try to reflect back personally each year on the things I was proud of, as well as the areas I need to improve or grow in. This year, it seems there is a collective feeling of heaviness. Not just the heaviness we have all been feeling over the last few years, but a heaviness that feels almost indescribable.

My clients have been saying similar things. Especially as the year has come closer to an end. Things feel more intense. There is more separation in relationships, friendships, and overall paths in life.

This year also came with this theme I keep hearing about. The year of the snake. The year of shedding. The year of releasing what cannot go with us into the next chapter. And regardless of whether someone believes in astrology, spirituality, or none of it at all, the idea fits. It has felt like a year where anything that was not rooted in honesty, accountability, or actual growth became harder to ignore. The people who are actively trying to better themselves are shedding old habits, old patterns, even old identities, and it is uncomfortable but necessary. The people who have refused to look inward or take accountability are becoming more noticeable too. Not in a judgmental way, just in a very clear way. It is easier to see who is growing and who is choosing not to. It is easier to see what aligns and what does not. It feels like this collective shedding has made it obvious who is moving forward and who is standing still.

While this year has felt incredibly trying on every level, I also feel an unexpected sense of peace. I feel like I am finally fitting into my own skin. Like I am truly comfortable with myself. I wrote in my December article for InMaricopa in 2024 about the growth I had seen in myself. What I experienced in 2025 surpassed that growth.

I am truly at a place of, “This is me.”

I am ready to fight the fight. I am ready to speak my voice. I am no longer hiding behind embarrassment or fear of what others may think of me. I am tired of watching so much injustice. I am tired of watching people hurt. I am simply tired.

Our future is headed on a path that worries me. I have spoken on these topics before and I will continue to, because it is important to me. And at this point, I also feel completely uncertain about what to do with all of that. I want to elicit change, but I have no idea how to do that on the level I would like to. I do not have the platform needed to get the momentum I want. There are so many fights I want to be involved in. How do I choose which ones. Because there is no way I can do them all.

All of that is in addition to seeing clients, providing trainings, speaking at conferences, running a multi site group practice, providing clinical supervision, and offering community enrichment events. Oh yeah, and being a mom to an amazing little boy, being a friend, being a daughter, and being a human who also needs rest. I want to change the world for everyone, but I also have to be the world for the people who are most important to me, as well as for myself.

This year I learned how to find my voice and fight more for what I believe in. I also learned how to set better boundaries and be present where I need to be. I have started saying no. I have walked away from opportunities, including ones that scared me to walk away from. Opportunities that triggered financial fears, or felt big because of “who they are.” But I am tired of standing alongside people, businesses, companies, and systems that do not align with my beliefs.

Too many people are out for money, greed, and notoriety. I am in everything I do because I truly care. Because I know what it feels like to think no one cares. To feel like you have no place you belong. To feel judged because of how you look or how you view things.

I wanted Northern Lights Therapy to be a place where you feel supported, whether you are a client or an intern. A place where you can be yourself, be challenged, and grow. And while offering this, including amazing quality clinicians at affordable rates, we keep getting hit from all sides. Overhead costs keep increasing. Rent goes up. Software costs go up. At the same time, insurance companies continue to decrease rates, decrease coverage, increase deductibles and premiums for clients, and then issue clawbacks “just because.”

I have had to constantly fight insurance companies who admit they took money incorrectly, but I am still fighting six months later to get it back. I am watching insurance companies randomly change policies, which limits coverage to thousands of residents. I am watching the average person, myself included, try to make it financially in a system that is stacked against them.

I am constantly trying to adapt to meet growing demands with a shrinking pool of reimbursement. Therapists take on the weight of the world, yet we are discarded when we ask for a livable wage. Many of us care so much that we reduce our rates just so people can get help, because we know there is a shortage of clinicians and an even bigger shortage of quality ones. We are trying to change the world while still trying to survive in the one we are currently in.

On top of all that, I am trying to raise my son to be a kind hearted boy who uses his common sense and his brain to navigate life. At the same time, I hear comments around me about how I should not be trying to raise a “man” because I am “just a female.” I have been told I could not be “Christian” because of how I look.

For clarity, I do not subscribe to any one religion. I was raised religious, but I do not practice. I have my reasons for that. I also have my own beliefs about a lot of things, and they work for me. I know I live my life from a good place and with good intentions. At the end of the day, I am okay with that.

This is a big rant, I know. It is my end of year dump. It is just different this year.

The holidays did not feel like the holidays. I feel like we are going backwards in time instead of forwards. I constantly find myself longing for the early 90s. Not because I think my youth was better than anyone else’s, but because I long for the simplicity. I miss more connection with nature. It is harder and harder to escape to it, which greatly impacts me.

Turning off the TV and logging off social media does not even cut it anymore. The heaviness is in the air. When you feel it as a human, and then you sit with your clients and your employees day in and day out, you really do feel the weight of it all.

And it continues to make me want to fight.

Fight for every one of you.

Fight for a better future for our children.

Fight for healing.

I know I cannot save everyone. I know I cannot fix everything that is broken, because there is so much that is broken. But I can at least try. I can at least give it a fight. I can push back. I can be a voice when others are scared to speak up.

I am tired of staying silent. I was silent in a marriage that nearly broke me. I was silent in past jobs where I was treated horribly. I was silent in so many situations, and it got me nowhere. The people, systems, and structures that were causing the harm just kept going on their way. That is not okay.

Until we start saying, “Enough is enough,” they will continue to get away with it.

Insurance companies have to start treating us better. We have to start standing up to them. We can make changes. We have seen it happen with business logos and sports teams. When the public does not like something and there is enough backlash, changes are made. Why are we not using that same energy for the things that literally impact our lives.

2026 is going to be a shift at NLT. I do not know exactly how it will play out, because there is so much up in the air, but please know that I will continue to fight for each and every one of you. I will continue to fight for improved mental health care, especially proactive work instead of reactive.

It is pointless to keep waiting to fix a problem when we could have prevented it from getting that bad in the first place. I also know that prevention does not bring in the big money that big companies want. It does not keep people dependent on them. That is part of the problem.

We are better than that as a society. We can be so much better.

I promise I will do what I can to bring more awareness to what insurance companies are doing. Not just to us as providers, but to their members, which is each of you reading this. This is especially true in rural areas, where care is already even more limited.

I promise I will keep trying to bring more awareness to our communities and to events. I will work to provide more trainings. I will help however I can. We are working on being approved as a continuing education provider for clinicians. I already have several speaking engagements lined up for 2026, as well as volunteer clinician roles. I am working on a few other projects that I do not want to spoil yet.

I am also going to be pushing hard for the You Matter Wellness Event coming back in March. 2026 is going to be a year of advocacy for me, more than any other year, while still bringing the same quality care and awareness that NLT has been known for.

I truly value all of you. NLT would not be what it is without our amazing clinicians, interns, support staff, the community, and our clients.

As we step into 2026, if the holidays felt different to you, that is okay. If you feel off, that is okay. Just feel whatever you are feeling. You do not need to set yourself up with a bunch of resolutions. The majority of people do not keep those anyway.

Be intentional with what you want 2026 to be for you. Maybe it is more time with family or friends. Maybe it is more time unplugged and present. Maybe it is choosing environments where you feel safe. Whatever the case may be, just be you.

The world is already rough enough. Do not let it drag you down more than it already has. Put your feet on the earth. Connect with nature. Spend time doing things that bring you some sense of joy or calm, even if it is small.

We have had some bumpy years, and that feels like a massive understatement. Allow yourself to do the bare minimum this next year if you need to. Let yourself recalibrate. You are worth that.

As always, if there is anything I can do to better support you, your family, or the community, please email me. I truly care for each of you and want to ensure we are doing all we can for the communities we serve.

Goodbye 2025.

Please be kinder, 2026.