Conversations with Christina Canuto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Canuto

Hi Christina, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist and intuitive eating counselor was as much a personal journey as it was professional. Coming from my own family system and having a complex trauma history, I found that compassion-focused, mindfulness-based, and relational strategies were healing for my own mental health struggles. I also found that intuitive eating strategies helped me heal my own relationship with food and my body, where I had my own history with eating disorder behaviors as far back as my pre-teen years.

My ability to deeply empathize with clients comes from a place of knowing that intrapersonal pains and relational strains are healable, if we are willing to do the hard work of change. I set myself on that path to change in my teens, asking my parents for therapy because I inherently knew there was something unhealthy about my relationship with myself and others.

From years of processing my own trauma and re-organizing my relationships to reflect my new sense of self, I am passionate about helping others piece together their own sense of navigating the world. I don’t pretend to know anyone’s life but my own. I know the strategies I developed were decades in the making of doing the hard work of therapy and relational healing. I meet people where they are and help them uncover their own intuitive pathway to change. Everyone is inherently resourceful, and I simply see myself as a mirror to reflect back their unique uncovered solutions.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
If I had to compare my personal and professional journey to a road, it would be a long and pebbled pathway. If we walk along a pebbled pathway with the right shoes and the pebbles are placed pretty evenly, it’s not a smooth road, but it’s manageable. We might feel the unevenness in our soles, but we can still keep moving. However, if some of the pebbles are removed, we might find it is a bit more bumpy. We might have to take our time to not lose our balance.

I see the pebbles as different opportunities for self-reflection and growth – they are innumerable if we are looking. However, that’s been the biggest challenge for me. Since I am so drawn toward self-reflection and growth, I sometimes stumble into rumination in my search for self-healing. I am always looking for new pebbles to pick up and say, “Well, this one is interesting! I should stop and sit with it!” I once had a wonderful mentor say to me, “You’re very good at self-reflection, but sometimes we also need distraction. When’s your time to just play and have fun?”

Along with creating time to play, I’ve also created time to just Be. Recently I’ve started cultivating my home environment to reflect spaces that are meant for play, or Being. I have a corner of our bedroom near a window I love to open and let natural light in. I have a big cozy chair there and lots of books to relax with. Across from that space is another window where I have my meditation cushion sitting near my giant snake plant and decor that reminds, “Be Kind.” Downstairs, my partner and I have a living space we’ve worked a lot of bright colors into, with a bookshelf filled with board games. So my biggest “challenge” has been pushing against the culture of capitalism, and literally creating space way from my work office for play and Being.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified intuitive eating counselor. I provide relational therapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups. I come from a trauma-informed and systemic lens, weaving mindfulness, compassion-focused, and person-centered strategies into the work I do. I help people heal their relationship to self and others. Sometimes this means using my education on intuitive eating to help with healing someone’s relationship to food and their body. Other times, this may mean helping someone explore weaving compassionate strategies into their daily lives, or using mindfulness to tune into the world around them and significant relationships.

Clients have shared that they feel safe with me, appreciate my collaborative nature, and that they value my insights to think about their “problem” differently. I love to make therapy feel natural – a conversation where sometimes we are laughing, or there are tears, or we simply exist together and let silence do its work. I run an instagram where I take a more casual and laidback approach to sharing strategies for compassion, mindfulness, and intuitive eating. Readers can find that instagram page here by searching for @christina_mft

What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I live in Charlotte, NC and I love all of the green spaces available. My least favorite thing about the city would be traffic, although I suppose you could say that about any city!

Pricing:

• $150 individual therapy
• $180 couples/family therapy

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/christina-canuto-charlotte-nc/1036367
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christina_mft/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-canuto/
• Other: https://lotuscounselinggroup.com/our-team/christina-canuto/

Image Credits
Sara Kulig for the second photo