MY APPROACH TO TREATMENT
It is my experience that every relationship in therapy is unique and that people grow and change in a variety of ways; hence, I have trained in a variety of treatment modalities. Therapy is a collaborative process and together we discover what best serves your needs. As your therapist, I offer you a safe and respectful environment for you to bring what is on your mind.
Much of my psychotherapy training has been psychoanalytic which means that I am oriented to paying attention to both the conscious and unconscious material that you bring. It has been my experience that this depth approach helps to bring about lasting change and transformation. My goal is to help you learn to listen more deeply to yourself, and to develop a creative relationship with your internal life.
Jungian Depth Psychology
A primary aim of Jungian psychotherapy is to establish an ongoing relationship between consciousness and the unconscious. Jungian theory understands the psyche as containing an innate drive toward balance and wholeness, which tends toward healing itself.
The archetypes are fundamental psychic patterns common to all humans. An archetypal approach to treatment considers these universal patterns of consciousness common to all beings in all cultures. Individuation is a fundamental Jungian concept emphasizing the goal of becoming whole (as opposed to being perfect), which implies integrating the unconscious or shadow side of oneself.
Creativity is regarded as a fundamental instrument of self-healing by paying attention to the symbolic communication from the unconscious. Active imagination, painting or writing may all deepen this relationship. Jungian-oriented work may explore the individual psyche through the medium of dreams, art, mythology and fairy tales.
Object Relations Theory
The focus in Object Relations is our very early, pre-verbal life and experiences, and how we have internalized these experiences. "Object" refers to a person, especially the significant person that is the object of one’s feelings, and "Relations" refers to interpersonal relations and suggests the residues of past relationships that continue to affect a person in the present. It is often helpful to understand our approach to current relationships and outlook on life through the lens of these early formative experiences.
Mindfulness Oriented Psychotherapy
Mindfulness Oriented Psychotherapy refers to psychotherapy informed by the insights of mindfulness. This orientation is very helpful in therapy as it focuses awareness on what is happening in each moment without any effort to change the experience, so encouraging an attitude of acceptance. A mindfulness approach reduces stress and relaxes habitual tensions by cultivating a capacity for calmness in the midst of inner or outer turmoil. It helps foster self-reflection, awareness, emotional equanimity, acceptance, and greater compassion for self and others.
Family Systems
From this perspective families are systems of interconnected and interdependent individuals who cannot be understood in isolation from one another. Family rules, roles and boundaries are considered along with concepts such as triangulation and cut-offs. This approach helps to identify particular roles and functions that we take on in our families and communities, and consider their effect.
Non-Verbal Therapies - Expressive therapies offer an avenue for exploring the nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are communicated within the creative process. These may include Sand Tray and Art Therapy.
Sand tray work may be described as a “waking dream” in which hopes, memories, fears and conflicts may be expressed in a three-dimensional form that previously had no language. Art therapy may utilize drawing, painting, sculpture or photography to express symbols and metaphors that may be difficult to express in words or in other modalities.
Questions, appointments or more information
erica@mindful-therapy.net
The mind is its own place, and in itself
can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n
