The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious.
If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door.
If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.
Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype
Mental Health and Suffering is Inextricably Linked to Justice
Our personal problems of living and relating are situated in our social context. Minority Stress: racism, sexism, heteronormativity, ability biases, agism, etc. impacts mental health. By utilizing a social justice lens in psychotherapy, we frame our self understanding, and our challenges, in the context of these factors that are outside of our choosing, and we de-construct the idea that our mental health is only a function of our personal strength or will. Situating mental health in the context of a larger systemic pursuit of more just ways of living and relating is a major pillar of my way of working.
Pain Can Be Our Teacher.
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. -Kahlil Gibran
Symptoms are signals. Together, we can decipher them, comprehend their meaning, and make necessary changes in thinking, feeling, and relating, that will reduce pain.
When faced with the eruption of a deep aspect of self that needs attention, we are faced with an opportunity, and pain is the signal. This pain can be an episode of depression, insomnia, nightmares. This pain could be your longing to explore your gender identity, your sexuality. It could be the despair of a miserable relationship, or an escalating crisis with your child.
True Liberation from Pain Requires Depth
The first step shall be, to lose the way. -Galway Kinnell
Depth Psychotherapy is the rooted in an understanding that our self knowledge and awareness is a layered and diverse topography, not fully available to us at a conscious level. Exploring what is beneath the surface, facilitates a deeper appreciation of who we are, where we might be blind or oppressed, and how to come to a more conscious way of living and relating. This leads to a deeper understanding of our internal psychological architecture.
Our relationship to our selves is paramount.
She who looks outside, dreams. She who looks inside, awakens. -Carl Jung
Our longest relationship is the one that we have with ourselves. Through reflection, being heard and witnessed, and self examination, we develop the rich resources of our inner lives. Psychotherapy, expressive arts, meditation practice, are just some of the tools that facilitate an enriching relationship with what Jung called, the deep self.
Healing is a co-creative process.
The change that you seek in your life, will not come from outside of you. It will come from within you, through the work of attention. As a facilitator of this healing, I ask my clients to engage in a mutual commitment to presence, honesty, authenticity, and the willingness to feel.
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