01.
Human beings can be described as a system of parts - parts that we're born with and parts that develop over time. When life is good enough, our internal system may develop in such a way that all parts of self are able to work together naturally and intuitively, with no major internal conflict. All too often, people have experiences that disrupt this natural tendency toward internal cohesion and collaboration. Parts work is a way to help people come to know their whole selves, work through internal, often unconscious barriers, and achieve a sense of peace and wholeness within themselves. Ego State Therapy (my preference) and Internal Family Systems are two approaches to parts work in which I have formal training.
02.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is based on the Adaptive Information Processing model (Shapiro, 1995, 2001, 2006). Information gets stored in the brain in state specific form, and bilateral stimulation can be utilized to remove the barriers that prevent the brain from healing itself. In this way, knowledge, beliefs, emotions, and sensations that are available and helpful now can be utilized to heal those parts of self that still hold responses that were adaptive during a past experience, but are no longer helpful in the present.
03.
The term 'experiential therapy' covers a wide range of approaches, including some already mentioned on this page. Experiential therapy utilizes the body rather than just the conscious mind to learn, process, and heal. Art, music, dance, and writing, for example, can be very powerful therapeutic tools. Psychodrama is a type of experiential therapy that uses action methods to increase access to internal resources, and to uncover and repair social and psychological wounds. Psychodrama is primarily a group intervention, and can be adapted for individual therapy as well.
04.
Trauma is stored in the body. Healing from trauma requires expanding your capacity to feel whatever it was that couldn't be safely felt before, and allowing those sensations to move through and out of your body. Pacing is key, as too much too soon can trigger the body's emergency response system and be retraumatizing rather than healing. Somatic experiencing, mindfulness, guided imagery, and skill building all have a place in my practice. I also have formal training in clinical hypnosis, which I find invaluable in helping people who experience significant dissociation.
05.
Groups provide an opportunity to connect with others around common goals in a safe and manageable way, creating lived experience to draw from as you navigate connections in your personal and professional life. There is an inherent power imbalance in individual therapy: you're paying me to help you. In group, diverse people with diverse experiences come together to help each other, and each person's agenda is clear: you're here to help yourself. As you work with others in group, you're likely to discover much more about your goodness, strength, wisdom, and compassion, and likely to find safety in discovering all the ways in which your experience, your perspective, your struggle, and your hope is shared by others.