• MINDFULNESS-BASED THERAPY

When we are mindful, we are fully attending to what is happening in the moment – to our thoughts, feelings, and what we are perceiving through our senses. Sometimes we are in the moment without trying, going with the flow. Other times, we find that we’ve been caught up in thoughts about the past or in worries about the future and find that we are feeling tense, anxious, irritated or depressed. Often, lurking within those ruminations and worries are judgments which cause us great suffering – whether they are directed at ourselves or others.

It is common to dwell, worry, judge, and feel upset – it is part of being human. But with regular mindfulness practice, our capacity to be with strong emotion increases and the ability to deal with challenging situations grows. Mindfulness, when done intentionally, can help us enjoy the moment and deal effectively and compassionately with whatever comes up; we learn to take a nonjudgmental stance, even though we still have judgments.

By being awake to what is happening moment by moment, you may find it easier to act in ways that reflect your intentions. My intention, as your therapist, is to be fully present in our work together – to be a non-judgmental witness to what you share with me. The therapist being mindful is an important part of mindfulness-based therapy. If you are interested in deepening your understanding of mindfulness, I will guide you through experiential exercises and make suggestions for practice.

I often use Mindfulness-Based Therapy with other approaches for deep healing. For information on other therapies I use, please read what I have to say about EMDR and Brainspotting.

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) 

An easy way to think of how EMDR works is by remembering these three R's: Review, Release, and Repair. A traumatic incident is reviewed using EMDR techniques which helps your system's natural ability to heal itself take over and you begin to release traumatic material that had been trapped in your mind and body. Finally and simultaneously, your system begins to repair itself, replacing negative beliefs about yourself associated with the traumatic situation with beliefs that are more consistent with what you'd like to believe, beliefs that feel true.

The following is an excerpt from a description on the EMDR Institute, Inc.’s website:

"EMDR is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal.  EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes."

For the rest of the article and more, go to: http://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/

• BRAINSPOTTING (Mindful Focusing)

As with EMDR, you can use the three R's to understand how Brainspotting works: Review, Release, and Repair. Brainspotting, an outgrowth of EMDR, uses bilateral sound during the review process. One thing that is different about Brainspotting is that a "spot" in the visual field that is related to the disturbing material is located and then focused upon during this treatment. This is a very targeted, psychologically "surgical", way to gain access to stuck material so it can be processed and released. This method is very respectful of each person's unique style of healing. In other words, the healing process is organic and natural as the timing and sequence of items reviewed is determined internally, versus following a specific protocol. Repair is what naturally occurs as a result of this process and is easily measured on a scale that records the level of emotional and physical disturbance before, during, and after treatment.

This is what David Grand, Ph.D., developer of this trauma recovery method has to say about this healing modality:“Brainspotting is a powerful, focused treatment method that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms. Brainspotting is a simultaneous form of diagnosis and treatment, enhanced with Biolateral sound, which is deep, direct, and powerful yet focused and containing.”

To read the rest of the article and get access to links about Brainspotting, go to: https://brainspotting.pro/page/what-brainspotting

• SOMATIC AWARENESS

Somatic Awareness for Healing and Growth

Your body is a wise vessel that continually sends signals telling you when you are moving toward or away from balance. Balance is your natural state, one that feels “right”. If you pay attention, you may find that you physically move toward, are drawn to some things and away from or repulsed by others. This is the wisdom of the body “speaking”.

Awareness of this inner knowing can point you toward activities that are fulfilling versus ones that are draining. It can also be used to determine the best foods or nutritional supplements needed in the moment and is routinely used by Naturopathic Doctors, Functional Medicine practitioners, chiropractors, and nutritionists when determining a treatment plan. But anyone can access and use this awareness, not just the experts.

Trauma, whether mild or severe, physical or psychological, can disrupt this natural flow of information. The “voice” of pain from a back injury, for example, can block awareness of more subtle signals. You may use other muscles to compensate for injured ones – sometimes to the point of forgetting what original functioning is like. This is known as muscle amnesia. In the case of psychological or emotional trauma, something similar happens. You may find yourself stopped in your tracks, unsure of whether to move forward or unsure of which direction to go. In this injured state, you move cautiously. This is understandable, of course, but the voices that say, “keep protecting, keep being cautious” can prevent the return of balance, and disharmony can take over. Those voices are often loud, habitual, and fear-based. They “protect” you from feeling unprocessed emotional pain which causes it to stay stuck in mind and body. The good news is, we can look deeply, release and repair the wound from the inside out, and once again find the voice of harmony, be in the flow.

Whether the goal is healing from trauma, stress, anxiety, or depression, or if it is for personal growth, somatic awareness is a part of the therapy processes I use; it is an important part of EMDR, Brainspotting, and Mindfulness-Based Therapy.

• BIOFEEDBACK

To use biofeedback in my office, you will wear a sensor on your finger or ear that is hooked up to my computer.  You will see your heart pattern on the computer screen and will be able to see it change according to where you are putting your attention. For example, if your attention is on something you are upset about, you will see a very jagged, erratic pattern. On the other hand, if you are focusing on someone or something you care about, you will see a smoother, more regular pattern. You will be able to try out different techniques for accessing a state within yourself that is calm and balanced – one that reflects your inner resources and best self and you will see it reflected on the screen moment by moment.

In my practice, I use a biofeedback program developed by HeartMath. For over 26 years this organization has been researching how thoughts, emotions, intentions, the breath, and visualizations affect our mood and overall sense of wellbeing as measured in heart rhythm patterns. HeartMath has conducted over 300 independent, peer-reviewed studies. To learn more about the science, click here.

• HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis can be a powerful tool in therapy as it relaxes the body and mind making it easier for clients to gain access to some of what lies deep within themselves or just below their level of ordinary awareness. Sometimes they find a wellspring of creativity, or a block to healing that can be softened and dissolved, and sometimes a view of their issue from a different perspective, opening up new possibilities for understanding and healing. For some, hypnosis and self-hypnosis can be used to manage chronic pain.

In this healing zone, people can feel what it is like to act in the ways that are aligned with their goals. Experiences and images tend to arise effortlessly and sometimes unexpectedly, offering a glimpse of what is possible.

• MEDITATION

Meditation, an ancient practice that has continued nonstop to modern times, is becoming more and more mainstream as the evidence pours in on its benefits to mind, body, and spirit. It can be used to treat problems such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, and chronic pain. It can be used to increase mental acuity and a sense of calm and well-being. And, as it is utilized in many different religious practices around the globe, it is widely accepted that it can bring about or enhance spiritual attunement. Being that I can personally attest to these benefits after over 40 years of practice, I would be remiss to not offer this valuable tool to my clients!

For those who are interested, I guide meditations and teach clients how to do basic non-religious meditation that provides a way to focus the mind on what is happening in the moment. They have the opportunity to learn how to shift from thinking to noticing – and sometimes to noticing what they are thinking. In a way, meditation is a study of the self which can increase awareness of what is going on inside. Awareness is a vital part of either accepting something or changing it – often the very reasons people come to see me.

• SKILLS TRAINING

Sometimes, when a style of coping is more harmful than helpful, clients may choose to learn and practice skills that, when used regularly, can increase confidence, effectiveness, and feelings of empowerment.

From a component of Dr. Marsha Linehan's Dialectical Behavioral Therapy  (DBT). These skills fall into the following  4 categories:

Mindfulness (Mindfulness, though it is its own category, is at the foundation of all of the life skills in the below categories.)

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Emotion Regulation

Distress Tolerance

The essence of the DBT method of teaching and learning is that each skill is to be done balancing acceptance: of the pain and circumstances of a situation with the need or desire to change a situation or behavior that is not working. Balancing Acceptance: the understanding that there is a perfectly good reason for a person's need to work on a skill and that doing so is understandably difficult and uncomfortable with change: that there is a desire to do things differently to feel better and get better results.

 Acceptance is the antidote to being judgmental. It is easier to take on the the task of learning or improving upon the how-to's of certain life skills when we are not caught up in a toxic cycle of judging ourselves, others, and the circumstances we find ourselves in. Being skillful is very different from simply reacting in the same old ways to the same kinds of things.

These skill modules, developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan as part of her widely used evidence-based therapy - originally designed for treating people with serious emotional and behavioral issues, is now used to treat a range of mental health conditions. I credit her with helping countless clients and clinicians alike to operate in the uncertainty of the moment with a bit more calm, presence, effectiveness and compassion.

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