We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Annamarie Pemberton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with AnnaMarie below.
AnnaMarie, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Likely from about having not so great things happen and coming out on the other side. Isn’t that all of us who are still standing after hardship? It’s important to see the goodness around you even in difficult times. I work daily at this perspective and often I’m reminded of Kristen Neff’s research on self compassion and her joke about being disappointed because you signed up for the ‘easy, stress free, happy life’ – not one with ups and downs. Our challenges are never totally unique; I know this to be so true as a therapist and keeper of many people stories and struggles. Remembering this is a life line back to other humans and our shared experience on this planet.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I became a trauma therapist because I had a lot of trauma. I also had a lot go right for me. I used to joke that I wasn’t sure if I should have gone to graduate school or just gone to years of therapy. I’ve done both now! Stories and knowledge and knowing that there were other people with my experiences helped immensely and continues to be my touchstone. Its whats helped me move the needle towards anything that could resemble healing.
I work with a lot of interpersonal trauma, attachment wounds, complex trauma and people who had pervasively lonely childhoods. I’m committed to serving the women who are taking care of so many others – partners, parents, children, staff, whole neighborhoods. Addiction treatment and sustaining sobriety are important missions stemming from the early days of my career and in some ways this work was my introduction to suffering, community and the possibility for change.
I host a virtual closed support group for survivors of sexual trauma built around incorporating somatic work, poetry, readings, expressive arts and holding space for one another. I’m thrilled to offer Brainspotting sessions as I continue my journey towards certification this year.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Connection, the belief the people are inherently good and getting really good at asking for help. Practice having needs, recognizing them and talking about them. Cultivating all of these skills requires vulnerability, messiness, uncertainty and a willingness to keep trying, learn from mistakes and pivot.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
Trusting myself has been an unexpected recent hurdle. I’ve made changes to my business to better support my growing family and to have a more nourishing, sustaining existence as a therapist. I can conceptualize the impact of being socialized as female in a patriarchal , capitalistic society. I can understand the ongoing imprint of childhood abuse and neglect, Yet, I can still be totally bamboozled by the shame based stories that show up and undermine some of my decisions at age 36- especially ones that take time to blossom or involve finances.
It’s a daily practice trying to allow myself to move in the directions I’m drawn and to trust this unfolding journey as long as I keep showing up and doing the work. I hold myself accountable to addressing growth edges as an adult and valid decision maker. I try not to give other people my power by remaining uninformed, avoidant, silent or scared. It’s been difficult. It’s also brought me into new levels of personal somatic and nervous system work. This work is experiential and lately, I feel hopeful and empowered.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curiouspresencetherapy.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Curious-Presence-Therapy/61566218317438/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annamarie-pemberton-lcpc-pmh-c-37741222/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/curious-presence-therapy-catonsville
Image Credits
My husband haha. Full disclosure: I need more pictures. I can try my best to get images of my office space and ones that might capture more of the work I do but will not have that within the two week deadline. If there is some flexibility please let me know.
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
