A heartwarming message from our of our therapists, Kim Brownell.

I wanted to share with everyone a recent post by one of our therapists, Kim Brownell. Kim is our former Broadway star who has played many lead roles on the infamous stage. Her time on Broadway has led to her career as a Therapist…

Kim now has special expertise in providing therapy to people in recovery from eating disorders, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, mood disorders, self-esteem, and more. In this post she reflects on her past struggles as a teen/ adolescent and focuses on why her specialty is important to her.

“When I chose to become a therapist, I honestly didn’t know which population I was most passionate about. It quickly became evident that I felt deeply connected with adolescents/teens/young women in a profound way. I knew I’d found my niche and haven’t looked back since that time.
I spent my teen years feeling perpetually insecure and mortified by the “ugly” girl I saw reflected back at me in the mirror. I’ve since looked back with great sadness at the realization that I wasted so much precious time comparing myself to others, assuming everyone saw the same hideous exterior that I did, beating myself up for the tiniest of infractions, and allowing myself to feel so much unnecessary shame (which consumed me into my 20s). This ultimately prevented me from taking part in so many amazing opportunities.
I know I chose this demographic to try and prevent every teenage patient from allowing shame to shape their experience and hopefully teach them that beauty is actually multi factorial. That kindness, empathy, tolerance and caring for others is *more* beautiful than a pleasant face and thigh gaps.***I found this unedited/unfiltered picture at my mom’s house over thanksgiving this year (a photo I once loathed) of me at 15. As I stared at it, I realized that the 15 y/o I saw in my head was maybe not as grotesque as I once thought. We are all *so* much harder on ourselves than we are with others in our lives. Let this grainy, makeup—free, pasty girl rockin’ some sensible barrel rolled bangs be a reminder of this”.

If you or anyone you know would like to make an appointment with Kim, please send an email to contact@sdkidsfirst.com or call (858) 692-4187.