My Approaches to Therapy in Plain Language
Relational
What does it mean to have a relational approach?
It means that our work is based on the idea that mutually satisfying relationships with others are necessary for one’s emotional well-being.
It also means that I will be a real person in the room - not a blank slate or a mirror. I will not just ask you “…so, how do you feel about that?”
We will relate, be in (a therapist-client) relationship, to each other. A relational approach holds that the relational part matters. And how we relate may change how you are able to relate to others, too.
It also means that I hold sacred all the boundaries important in my role and center the space and time fully on you.
Outcomes: Often over the course of working together, my clients enter into more satisfying romantic relationships, more mutually supportive friendships, shift to a better fit work environment, and create more confidently boundaried relationships with challenging people.
I have trained with the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute in Level 1, and as a Level 1 course assistant. I have enjoyed taking courses integrating somatic work and parts work, and also draw from my experience as a dancer and mindfulness practitioner in this area.
Somatic
What does it mean to have a “somatic” approach?
Somatic is a fancy word for “relating to the body.” I often describe a somatic approach to clients as learning to speak “body” to the body.
Sometimes we can talk all about something, understand it with our mind, and yet we are stuck in the same feelings or reactions or symptoms over and over. When this is the case, a somatic approach can be especially helpful.
Emotions and memories are both a physical and mental process. Using a somatic/body based approach means that we pay attention to your physical experiences of emotional states, and work with those experiences directly, not just your mental understanding of them.
Outcomes: Often over the course of working together, my clients report an increase in self-trust. They have an increased awareness of their own emotions and how to take care of their feelings in ways that don’t undermine their wellbeing. This may include communicating needs and limits, requesting support, or taking personal action to address ones emotional state, and/or the larger cultural or political environment.
Outcomes: Together we gather a unique set of skills and interventions for you, based on individual tendencies and talents, and then build a habit of drawing on these under stress. Being more present also increases capacity for enjoyment, and many clients have new, deeper experiences of enjoyment and simple presence through somatic therapy.
Parts work
What does it mean to have a parts-based approach?
Have you ever felt like it was hard to make a decision because you felt two competing/opposing ways about the situation? This is an example of when two parts are in conflict with each other. One part may want to take a chance, and the other part may want to avoid risk at all costs. Or one part may want to make someone happy while another part resents overriding your own needs to do so.
Having a parts based approach means that we honor the origin, purpose and intention of your many different coping and connecting strategies. No part of you is kicked out or shut down, although it may need to get out of the driver’s seat, give up the bullhorn, and learn a more collaborative approach.
Outcome: Through this respectful approach, we increase your sense of wholeness, integration, and ability to feel your way through a process to a collaborative outcome, without one part totally overriding another. This kind of internal communication and negotiation can result in improved relational communication as well. Parts work also cultivates our awareness of our innate capacity for compassion, care, calm, willingness, centeredness, and presence.