My Approach
My approach is informed by over 10 years of practice in non-violent communication, and a natural ability to be a grounding and empathic presence with a fondness for meaningful play.
We begin by talking, by checking in, by building trust, and - when you are ready - we go deeper.
Internal Family Systems
I trained in a type of therapy called Internal Family Systems (or "IFS") because it goes beyond normal talk therapy. It also lovingly explains the strange, magical, and often very challenging phenomenon of being human!
Below is an artists' (Sharon Sargent Eckstein's) depiction of this, taken from Inner Active Cards and showing the multiplicity of the human experience.
From this model, the human mind is considered to have multiple aspects or personalities. We can understand -with compassion - why one “part” of ourselves may want to go in one direction, while other parts may want to go in another. And we find that, when we take the time to honor all of the parts, one by one, healing can happen, and we can find more harmony with life. We can even go backward in time to process traumatic life events and re-write the memory and the self-talk that was woven because the experience wasn't fully processed.
This is different than coaching approaches which try to change thinking or behavior without fully honoring the wisdom of the parts - called“protectors” - which usually played a very important protective role at an earlier life stage, but got stuck in time, and need to be updated so that they can be freed to play new roles.
Drama Therapy
When it is aligned for you, I also love to use a Drama Therapy approach called Insight Improv, because I have found that there are times when going inside (through IFS) is what is needed; and other times when being invited into a fuller, more physicalized expression - through movement, vocalization, and play - is essential. I also like to incorporate any form of art that you are drawn toward.
Regardless of what any one else may have told you about how your expression compares to someone else, the truth is that we are dancing, singing, sound-making, creative beings.
In all of these processes, IFS, Insight Improvisation and creative expression, new insights emerge spontaneously that are usually not available through talk alone, which can at times be simply a re-iteration of previous thinking patterns.
This allows for you to gain new insights, and to feel heard and seen at a different level.
And, with patience and time, you and your parts come into greater harmony, and this allows your innate gifts to emerge with more ease.
Below is another drawing from Inner Active Cards that shows the inner harmony that can be felt following an unburdening process.
We Create a Unique Ritual Together
Together, we'll find what works best for you, creating a ritual of care and connection that supports your healing and growth (which may or may not involve a candle!)
To Schedule a Free Discovery Session
Click here to schedule a free 30 minute consultation to talk about what is alive for you - your goals and your challenges, to ask any questions you may have, and to see if we are a fit to work together.