Newsletter
Letters from the Practice
Notes from the practice: events, celebrations, and seasonal intentions.
MUSA
Writing on psychology, relationships, the moment, and the fragility of being human
Books and essays by Dr. Angela (Niki) Serravalle.
Explore MUSA
Three Ways to Read
Blog
Make It Make Sense
Grounded, research-informed essays on psychology, therapy, and the cultural moment.
Library
Essays & Publications
Books, essays, and articles by Dr. Niki Serravalle.
Meet the Author
Dr. Angela (Niki) Serravalle
Dr. Niki Serravalle is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and the founder of the Center for Balanced Living. Her clinical work centers on trauma-informed care, psychological evaluation, and the integration of nature-based and somatic approaches into therapeutic practice. She writes MUSA from her practice in Delaware, where the clinical and the personal continually meet. Her first book, The Stories We Told: The Dance of a Codependent and a Compulsive Liar, is forthcoming.
Why I Write
In Latin and Italian, Musa is the muse, the figure who animates writing, thinking, and creative work. To write in the company of a muse was to listen carefully and give shape to what mattered most. It was writing with intention. MUSA is where I house my writing, a space where the clinical, the literary, and the personal meet on the page.
The Book
The Stories We Told
The Dance of a Codependent and a Compulsive Liar
The Stories We Told is the memoir of a clinical psychologist who knew the signs and stayed anyway, a reckoning with love, deception, and the long work of coming home to herself.
Recent Essays
From the Desk
The Distance Between Us: Part Four
You cannot reach across a rupture from a body that is still in alarm. This is not sentiment. It is how human beings...
The Distance Between Us: Part Three
Part Three: The Body That Was Left Being cut off by someone you love is a strange kind of grief, because everything...
The Distance Between Us: Part Two
Part Two: What Distance Solves, and What It Does NotI am going to say the thing estrangement advice usually dances around. Cutting...
The Distance Between Us: Part One
The Distance Between UsEstrangement is one of the most common losses almost no one talks about. More than a quarter of adults...
Monthly Newsletter
Letters From the Practice
Find the Right Word July's Intention from CFBL Letters from the Practice
Dear friends, July has a way of loosening things. The school calendar falls away, the evenings stretch out, and the pace that...
Letters From CFBL: June Intentions
June is a month of intention at Center for Balanced Living.This month, we're celebrating Pride Month, expanding our team, launching CFBL Institute...
May Intention at CFBL
May at Center for Balanced Living As we move into May, we are excited to share several updates happening at Center for...
April Newsletter
Spring updates from Center for Balanced Living progress on the walking path, current group offerings, and a warm welcome to our newest...
Welcome and March Intention
As we move into March, many people feel a familiar mix of hope and pressure. The season changes, expectations rise, and it...
Welcome and December intention
December tends to amplify whatever is already present. For many people, that looks like increased stress, more emotional reactivity, more shutdown, more...
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