My Theoretical and Practical Approaches to Therapy

I am a Somatic and Experientially based practitioner.  I believe in body memory and its own intelligence. Through body awareness techniques I seek to tap into the body's knowledge.  I have training in Experiential Gestalt and Process Oriented Therapy which are both experiential approaches to healing – meaning that you don’t sit and talk about experiences; you feel and “jump into” the experiences to provide your body and memory with new places to remember.  By integrating the body and the mind you further deepen your awareness of yourself and fall into calm acceptance.  

My theoretical orientation is Psychosynthesis, a trans-personal  psychology.  I trained at Psychosynthesis Palo Alto with John Firman and Ann Gila.    As a Psychosynthesis practitioner I aim to guide my clients to integrate all of who they are and experienced into a harmoniously inter-dependent self.  I also incorporate various techniques from a wide range of theories and orientations as needed in treatment such as sub-personality work (also known as parts or ego states), Gestalt, Process work, and body awareness techniques in addition to talk therapy to name a few. 
 
I am a graduate of The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sophia University) in Palo Alto, CA.  Through this unique approach to mental health I have been trained to include the whole person in treatment, including mind, body and spirit. Using compassion, understanding, curiosity and acceptance I help people come to terms with difficult past experiences and develop understanding and evaluation of how these experiences affect their current lives.  I utilize a wide range of techniques in addition to  traditional “talk therapy” which include art expression, relaxation, meditation & visualization techniques as well as art to help process inner struggles and to  improve self-understanding and self-acceptance.