Kristin Jurkowski (she/her)

As an American therapist living and working in Kraków, Poland, I help many international adults and adolescents navigate the unique challenges of living outside their country of origin, either by choice or forced migration. These difficulties can include issues of identity, cultural identification, anxiety, trauma, grief and loss. I also happen to have plenty of personal experience navigating how to live and raise a family in a second culture, language, and society.

Grief and loss come into our lives in all kinds of packages, not just death. I believe any life change or transition which requires us to reassess and reevaluate our basic sense of self or being-in-the-world is a loss--a loss of the old self or way of being, which requires the work of grief--and the recreation of a new self or way of being. At its core, grief and loss are invitations to participate in the primal life-death-life cycle, always recreating and re-becoming.

As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel a great deal of resonance with the struggles of identifying outside the cultural "norm." I find particular meaning in working with individuals who grew up in non-affirming spaces, experienced childhood trauma/bullying for identifying as LBGTQ+, are in the process of exploring their sexual orientation, and who are coming out later in life.

I approach psychotherapy as a co-creative, collaborative process between you, the client, and me, the therapist. I believe you are the expert on you, and I am here to support you in achieving your goals. That might look like me helping you get grounded, explore a difficult experience from your past, dream of the future you want, resolve suicidal ideation, or come to terms with a difficult life transition. Wherever we go, you lead. I'm there to hold space, provide resources, and support.

I am a member of iaedp (international association of eating disorder professionals), and have experience working in a residential eating disorder treatment facility for adults. I have presented at the Association for Music and Imagery national conference on my own struggles through an eating disorder, and am constantly looking for ways to improve my clinical skills in this area. It is my passion, and feels like a personal calling to do this work.

Eating is an emotional experience. Hunger is a physical sensation as well as an emotional--maybe even spiritual--experience. We can hunger for love, acceptance, peace, truth, relief. And we can reject our hungers because they feel insatiable, overwhelming, and never-ending. Looking at our behaviors with food through the lens of metaphor teaches us something about our inner lives and our true needs and hungers.

I am in a bi-cultural marriage, living and raising a third-culture kid in Poland, and working with clients from all over the world. My daily lived experience is that of an outsider, and I deeply empathize with the unique challenges which come about from living in a foreign culture, land, and language.

I believe we are each a collection of parts, some of which are likable and some not, but ALL of which are valuable. Some of these parts carry deep pain, and others create a lot of chaos and even destruction in our lives. But no matter how extreme these parts become, even the most negative part has good intentions. Our work together will help you heal these wounded and extreme parts, freeing you up to live a life of inner wholeness, freedom, self-acceptance, and joy.

I am a certified practitioner of the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music, or GIM. This is a powerful modality of healing which allows travelers to bypass the conscious, analytical, verbal mind and work directly with the deeper self/unconscious through the language of the unconscious: imagery. The valuable inner gold discovered there is then brought back to the conscious mind and integrated into daily life. In the process of this transformative work, clients may uncover deeply hidden answers