My Approach

Individual Counseling

 

What I do:

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Hypnotherapy and light trance work:

​Most people associate hypnotherapy with deep trance work and don’t know that hypnotherapy is broken into light trance and deep trance work.  While I am trained in deep trance induction, I very seldom use the technique. Unlike deep trance induction, light trance induction doesn’t depend on progressive relaxation. I won’t be telling you that you are getting sleepy…. 

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Light trance induction engages the perfectly ordinary state of returning to a memory and reliving it, in present tense.  The reason that I take this approach to therapy is that I’ve seen clients heal in ways that seldom happen with more cognitive approaches.  

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​I use a gentle Socratic technique known as Compassionate Inquiry to help identify memories suitable for light trance work and a technique known as Memory Reconsolidation to help clients transform and release old pain.  I have 45 years of experience with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and 20 years’ experience as a shamanic healer in support of my light trance work.  

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Somatic Experiencing

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a body-based approach to trauma healing.  I have completed Advanced Level SE training and use my 30 years’ experience SE to work to help guide clients on their healing journey.

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What I don’t do

I don’t do Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which is the form of therapy that most counselors practice.  I won’t explain why your thoughts are wrong and I won’t give you pre-printed homework.  

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Couples Counseling

Attachment based/trained by Stan Tatkin and the PACT Institute

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Much of the work that I do, in both couples therapy and individual therapy, involves working with attachment styles.  Attachment styles result from early life experience and often include memories that were formed before we were fully verbal.  As a result, much of what comes up in therapy has no story attached to it.  We know what we feel, but we don’t know why we're feeling it.  And, in some cases, we aren’t even aware of exactly what we’re feeling.  

 

I believe that therapy needs to engage the smartest parts of our brain and the most ancient parts of our brain to be truly effective.  The smart part of our brain responds to information and logic.  The primitive brain responds to sensation and metaphor and regulates how safe we feel in the world.  My education and aspects of my PACT training help me engage the smart parts of the brain while other aspects of PACT training, SE and NLP training, and my training as a shamanic healer engage body awareness.