Holistic & Integrative Psychotherapy
Find peace of mind, body and spirit.
A Holistic and Integrative Approach.
The foundation of my work comes from over 12 years of being a therapist and learning the importance of working with our whole being that exists as mind, body and spirit. From this place my work is deeply grounded in compassion, empathy, neuroscience and the ancient wisdom traditions.
I welcome all of your histories, struggles, identities, beliefs and traumas into the work we do together.
Feeling safe is critical in healing. I support you in finding a place deep within yourself that is open, calm, peaceful and safe.
My approach uses:
Talk therapy or Dialogue: Exploration and sharing using words.
Mindfulness: Practices that are used to support individuals being less distracted and living in their bodies in the present moment.
Expressive arts: The use of mediums of clients choice to help share beyond words.
Meditation: Ancient Methods of focusing the mind and seeing reality " as it is" not "as we would like it to be" I have been practicing Vipassana Meditation for Over 10 years and will draw on my training in this at times.
Breathwork: The use of the breath in certain specific ways. I am trained in Neurodynamic Breathwork, where indicated I provide this.
Brainspotting: Brainspotting™ is a neuroscience-informed treatment which targets the brain’s natural healing mechanisms, using specific eye positions and focused mindfulness. The therapist stays closely attuned to what is going on in the client’s brain, mind and body.
Rogerian Therapy: Carl Rogers developed a therapeutic modality called Person-Centred or sometimes called Client-Centered Therapy. This practice focuses on the relationship within therapy and in this relationship there is deep trust in the client's capacity to heal themselves and being the expert of their own experience.
Transpersonal Psychology: Based on the work of various researchers including Stanslov Grof and Abraham Moslow. This work concerns itself with the study of humanity's highest potential, and with the recognition, understanding, and realization of a spiritual, and transcendent states of consciousness. This perspective also values "human wholeness". Coming out of trauma for example is about integrating the trauma and allowing it exist within us, creating room for it and a new relationship with it. Becoming whole is about allowing our whole being to be alive, even the parts that we often reject.
Somatic Psychotherapy: Various researchers including : Stephen Porges, Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, David Grand and Gabor Maté have shown that the body holds our trauma.In referencing this brain research and my own personal experience with the mind/ body connection I support clients into a deeper and more compassionate relationship with their felt experience of the world.
My approach is always:
Trauma informed: Trauma-Informed Care is an approach in the human service field that assumes that an individual is more likely than not to have a history of trauma. Trauma-Informed Care recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role trauma may play in an individual's life and approaches therapy with a mindful, compassionate, safe, collaborative, empowering, inclusive, and non expert presence in the therapeutic relationship.
I believe living in itself involves suffering and freedom from suffering involves our ability to find our own voice/ truth/ path/ wisdom from within ourselves. I specialize in helping people develop and explore this life within and expand in a world that is difficult to navigate at times. Some of the issues I have worked with extensively:
Trauma
Relationship issues
Depression
Anxiety
Burnout
What to expect in Psychotherapy
We all have different reasons for making the choice to come to therapy. Making that choice is often difficult and trying to find a therapist can be confusing and, at times, frustrating.
I work to help create space between the issues you are struggling with, and contact with the solutions and wisdom within this calm, peaceful, safe stillness. Our work together is designed in collaberation and not a "one size fits all" experience.
The story we tell our self is often disconnected from our body and this present moment. My intention is to support you in building a new relationship with how you struggle and suffer, simultaneously working to connect you to your senses, body, this present moment and your compassion, deep wisdom and capacity to heal yourself.
Over the course of the time we work together our effort is to provide a safe space for you to express yourself and feel understood. This may be verbal or nonverbal through mediums such as: painting, movement, clay, music, or art.
At times clients may be interested in doing other work such as Brainspotting, meditation or breathwork these practices are less verbal in nature and may involve music and somatic psychotherapy/ body awareness.
Psychotherapy sometimes involves intense physical and emotional release, you may find yourself crying, upset or even having an angry outburst during a session. Some people may feel physically exhausted after a session. We are available to support you with these experiences also.
Except in certain specific circumstances we will keep all of our communication confidential. This is a legal and ethical obligation we have to you as a client that we will maintain.
