PHILOSOPHY
I believe that there are many ways in which we can live a more positive and healthy life if we work on those parts of ourselves that need recovery.
Individuals who have experienced some sort of emotional trauma develop certain strategies for coping. If these survival strategies are harmful or self-destructive than eventually the solutions become their own problems. The solutions lead us to limitations and restriction rather than expansion and growth.
Some of these self-destructive coping strategies are drug and alcohol abuse, anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, self-injury (cutting), sex addition, shopping, and gambling. For others maladaptive coping styles include autoimmune disorders, somatic symptoms, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders.
To heal and recover from these self-destructive patterns, we can learn to transform the pain into emotions, sensations, thoughts, images and songs, and become mindful of the effects of the pain on our bodies, heart, and spirit. If we can come to feel safe expressing and feeling emotions, and perhaps learn to tolerate some feelings of anxiety or depression, then we no longer have to displace or replace these feelings. In therapy ,we can make the unconscious conscious to make choices, if we feel safe. We can come to experience a sense of ourselves as whole and regulated beings with connections to self and others through attunement and trust and curiosity.
I believe that psychological difficulties affect an individual’s body, mind, and spirit. Thus, recovery also requires a holistic framework that targets all aspects of an individual. It is my belief that therapy offers individuals the chance to learn how to cope with feelings, emotions, and relational experiences in new and healthful ways that can lead towards a more fulfilling and promising future.
I believe that there are many ways in which we can live a more positive and healthy life if we work on those parts of ourselves that need recovery.
Individuals who have experienced some sort of emotional trauma develop certain strategies for coping. If these survival strategies are harmful or self-destructive than eventually the solutions become their own problems. The solutions lead us to limitations and restriction rather than expansion and growth.
Some of these self-destructive coping strategies are drug and alcohol abuse, anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating, self-injury (cutting), sex addition, shopping, and gambling. For others maladaptive coping styles include autoimmune disorders, somatic symptoms, anxiety disorders and depressive disorders.
To heal and recover from these self-destructive patterns, we can learn to transform the pain into emotions, sensations, thoughts, images and songs, and become mindful of the effects of the pain on our bodies, heart, and spirit. If we can come to feel safe expressing and feeling emotions, and perhaps learn to tolerate some feelings of anxiety or depression, then we no longer have to displace or replace these feelings. In therapy ,we can make the unconscious conscious to make choices, if we feel safe. We can come to experience a sense of ourselves as whole and regulated beings with connections to self and others through attunement and trust and curiosity.
I believe that psychological difficulties affect an individual’s body, mind, and spirit. Thus, recovery also requires a holistic framework that targets all aspects of an individual. It is my belief that therapy offers individuals the chance to learn how to cope with feelings, emotions, and relational experiences in new and healthful ways that can lead towards a more fulfilling and promising future.
