Philosophy

Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.

                                                     

~Joseph Campbell

 

I have found that adversity – whether physical or emotional – is most often a gift in disguise begging for our attention – truly a catalyst for transformation.

 

When we explore beyond symptoms to understand the root of the problem, heightened self-awareness and lasting change can occur.

 

My approach is non-intrusive, integrating the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical realms. Ultimately, this work is about being present, engaging with deep listening and heartfelt respect.

 

I create and hold sacred space that cultivates a sense of safety and trust. From this place, with fierce compassion, I encourage and challenge you in a reverent way.

 

Clients walk into my office from a myriad of ancestries, racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, presenting a wide range of sexual orientations, socio-economic histories, religious and/or spiritual belief systems.  All are welcome here.

 

 

Integrative Healing

 

I provide Psychotherapy and Integrative Healing for adults, couples, youth, and families. If you are a man, you may be surprised the extent to which my experience with women’s issues can help you.  My Master's degree is in Feminist Psychology. I hold a doctorate in Women's Spirituality/Philosophy & Religion from California Institute of Integral Studies.  My graduate research focused on utilizing spirituality as a vehicle for healing internalized oppression.

 

While I possess considerable expertise and experience, so much of the wisdom that appears is not of me but comes through me.  Deep listening and heartfelt respect require meeting you where you're at.  You are your own authority and an expert on your own experience.  It is my responsibility to help you access it.  

 

Part of my integrative approach includes designing rituals and rites of passage to help you leave your pain and trauma in the past so that you are no longer a victim to it.  I believe that trauma, especially reoccurring trauma, imprints on a cellular level. This can render traditional talk therapy only partially effective, thus the impetus for a more holistic path to healing.  Depending on your needs, we may choose to access your authentic self through deep listening, myth, dream work, or divination.  I tend to prescribe many other practices or activities as an adjunct to our work such as: nature, movement, yoga, art, naturopathy, acupuncture or bodywork, to name a few.  I frequently recommend homework in the form of journaling, reading, meditation, ritual, or asking you to pay special attention to an aspect of yourself.  I endeavor to teach you how much you do know, helping you to access the dormant wisdom and knowledge that lives within. 

 

Regardless of your religious and/or spiritual practice, I am committed to meeting you on your path. Time and time again, I have witnessed that honoring and weaving your belief system throughout our work can truly deepen and accelerate healing.  My style is engaged and challenging, customized to the specific needs of each individual.  I don’t just sit back and nod, interjecting an occasional, “How does that make you feel?”  I refer to my expertise, wisdom, multitude of resources and potential interventions as a toolbox from which we can draw, depending on who is in the room with me.  

 

I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a therapeutic tool that facilitates the reprocessing of disturbing thoughts and memories in a relatively short period of time. The brain's information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR essentially rewires the brain, informing you that the memories or associations imprinted by the trauma are not the same as the trauma itself.  While EMDR does not erase memories, it does, subtly and profoundly, shift your relationship to them, so that they no longer hold power over you.  EMDR can be used to treat a variety of issues from anxiety and phobias, PTSD and sexual trauma, to grief and loss.

 

The symptom is a portal through which to access the root cause.  Depth Hypnosis offers another expedient path to the root of suffering.  Depth Hypnosis, a form of hypnotherapy that includes transpersonal psychology, Buddhist philosophy, and shamanism, adopts a different approach, with ultimately a similar outcome to EMDR. 

 

Tailored to your preferences, we may choose to incorporate aromatherapy, using therapeutic grade essential oils and flower essences created by my friends at Lotus Wei.  Our sense of smell reaches the brain most immediately, having the capacity to impact energy and mood, supporting you to sink in, open up, let go, and deepen.  Bringing in the body is essential for holistic healing.  So often, there are answers residing in the body, whether imprinted trauma or what I refer to as ancestral memory on a cellular level, making it the place to begin to unwind and explore.