SESSIONS ARE TAKING PLACE ONLINE AND IN PERSON WITH SOME COVID HEALTH PRECAUTIONS.
Welcome
Our road to health, wellness, and a meaningful life
is often introduced to us through an encounter with hard times.
Healing means feeling at home in one's Self, because at the core of who we are we are whole. Healing involves rediscovering and reconnecting with the deep and endless transformational potential within. Sometimes a person needs help finding their way to that, especially when faced with tragedy, challenging relationships and life circumstances, illness, stress, or loss. And sometimes we don't know what we need; we just need a place to Be.
My approach, BodySoul Work, is embodied depth psychotherapy in the tradition of C. G. Jung. It is an approach to wholeness that engages heart, mind, soul, imagination, and body in the psychotherapy process. Healing through mindful use of art, movement, and music is nothing new. Throughout history, peoples of all ages, cultures, and religions have relied on the power of the imagination as it expresses the soul through art, movement, and music as a potent vehicle for healing.
The Depth Tradition
Modern psychodynamic psychotherapy originated in the depth approaches pioneered by C. G. Jung and Sigmund Freud, and was further developed and refined by others who followed in their footsteps. It is called "depth" because, unlike cognitive-behavioral therapies, which focus only on what is known consciously or can be observed, depth psychotherapy also values what lies behind and beneath the surface - qualities such as interiority, the soul's life, feelings, imagination, and the unconscious.
Sadly, today's mainstream behavioral health system has become lopsided. It leaves out the role of the unconscious almost entirely and does not deeply consider the psychological aspect of symptoms in ways that are supportive or helpful to the patient. It does not embrace symptoms in a way that honors the vastness of what it means to be human. Consequently the body, the unconscious, creativity, dreams, symptoms as carriers of meaning, and the curative nature of the psychotherapeutic relationship go untapped for their tremendous wisdom, balancing effects, and healing potential.
Embodied Psychotherapy
The dynamic relationship between body and soul is paramount in all ancient healing traditions, and the body-mind connection is also now clearly validated by the modern scientific literature. Even The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV-TR) asserts that attempting to distinguish mental from physical suffering is "a reductionist anachronism of mind/body dualism". BodySoul Work addresses this innate indivisibility of human beings by actively and skillfully inviting the body into the psychotherapy process. BodySoul Work also makes a place for imagination, dreams, emotions, creativity, relationships, and all patterns of connectivity, as these are aspects of a well-rounded human experience and have been found to be essential supports in healing.
Research
Over 100 peer-reviewed studies validate the efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy and show that patients who receive psychodynamic therapy maintain therapeutic gains and continue to improve after treatment ends. Studies also show that people who actively participate in psychotherapy have fewer sick days and lower medical costs.
Connection, Aliveness, and Wholeness are the Point
I integrate somatic and creative approaches like movement, somatic awareness, expressive art, and sandplay with the verbal psychotherapy and inquiry process. These modalities help facilitate direct access to the soul through imagination, the unconscious, and the body. The result is a deep approach to psychotherapy that is holistic, effective, and empowering.
