My Approach to Psychotherapy and Counseling

I provide a safe space for depth work, and a way for you to explore what is true for you and for that which is unfolding in your life. My approach is based on building a trusting relationship so that growth and change may occur.  Support is important for self-understanding, processing feelings, and engaging change. In our work together, we might engage in any of the following, depending on your preferences and where the therapy takes us:

• An exploration of core wounds

• Use of creative expression

• Dream work

• Attention to affect and the emotional world

• Body awareness and mindfulness practices

• A Jungian exploration of the archetypes and complexes that impact you

• Treatment for recent and past trauma

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

• An identification of what is important to you symbolically

• Noticing themes and patterns that appear to provide information for healing

• Tapping into your personal strengths and gifts

• The processing of grief and loss

• An exploration of your spiritual path

• Shamanic Psychology

• Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy

• Psychedelic integration therapy

• Approved to provide clinical supervision for professional licensure

Jungian Psychotherapy: Jungian psychology, is a school of psychotherapy which originated in the ideas of Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist. It emphasizes the importance of the individual psyche and the personal quest for wholeness. Important concepts in Jung's system are individuation, symbols, active imagination, dreams, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious, archetypes, complexes, the persona, the shadow, the anima and animus and the Self.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): EMDR is a therapy developed by Francine Shapiro that allows for rapid reprocessing of traumatic or distressing material so that it can be integrated fully so that emotional triggers are reduced or eliminated. Distressing/traumatic material is often fragmented and lodged in the limbic part of the brain which can cause emotional arousal and the sense that what happened in the past is happening now. Using bilateral stimulation coupled with memories, emotions, body sensations, and negative cognitions, distressing material can be integrated into the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Many people report a significant reduction in symptoms using this method. It is an integrative approach that is used to treat many conditions or problems including traumatic stress, anxiety, complicated grief, panic attacks, past sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, phobias, pain disorders, compulsive behaviors, and disturbing memories. I am an approved EMDR therapist through the Parnell Institute. 

Mindfulness Practices: Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training. Mindfulness is utilized to develop self-knowledge and wisdom. Large population-based research studies have indicated that the practice of mindfulness is strongly correlated with greater well-being and perceived health. Studies have also shown that rumination and worry contribute to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, and that mindfulness-based interventions are effective in the reduction of both rumination and worry. and Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people who are experiencing a variety of psychological conditions. For example, mindfulness practice is being employed to reduce depression symptoms, to reduce stress, anxiety, and in the treatment of drug addiction. 

Spiritual Counseling: Spiritual counseling utilizes phenomenological, existential, and humanistic approaches to help people explore deeper meaning and purpose in their lives. I do not impose my beliefs in this approach, rather I encourage clients to connect to their own spiritual wisdom and belief system. 

Shamanic Psychology: Shamanic Psychology is based on the assumption that all things in life are interconnected with an animistic viewpoint that sees all  beings and life as sacred. For those inclined, I use journeywork, guided imagery, divination, creative expression, ritual, and an exploration of the unseen world as ways to access Spirit and a deep, soulful experience.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP): Ketamine is an FDA approved medicine that is often used for anesthesia. At lower doses, it has been shown to be effective in decreasing treatment-resistant depression. There is some evidence that it can also help with other mental health concerns such as anxiety, PTSD, addictions, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ketamine has a psychedelic effect in that it allows for ego-dissolution, which can help quiet the default-mode-network of the brain that contributes to rumination and rigid thinking. The mind-expansive experience can allow for increased comfort with uncertainty and often a powerful sense of connection with life. Ketamine provides a vehicle for understanding the unconscious. I work with Telos Transformational Therapies and accompany my clients during their Ketamine journeys, providing both preparation for treatment and integration therapy afterward.

Psychedelic Integration: For those people who choose to experience other psycho-active substances, I believe preparation and integration are paramount for safety and effectiveness. These powerful medicines are most beneficial when augmented by psychotherapy. Having a place to make sense and meaning of one’s experience, identify core internal and life changes that are calling to be made, and gain insight into unconscious processes is essential to this work.