“Assume you have more in common with someone than not”
– Rick Doblin, Psychedelic/Humanitarian/Activist and founder of MAPS. MAPS convention Denver, June 2023.
Clients and others ask – why would you want to listen to someone’s problems every day? In our shared humanity, that statement is short sighted. We are all interconnected in a complex way on a shared path. How we decipher which path, how to share it is more accurate to reflect the therapeutic lens held in sessions. Becoming a therapist is my third career I am a licensed general contractor (no longer practicing), a barber and a transpersonal mental health counselor. My time in the construction field, behind the barber chair and as a single parent has peaked my interest in men’s mental health, religious trauma and couples therapy. During the pandemic, behind the barber chair, clients began to verbalize and or show signs of depression, isolation and hopelessness. I did not know how to respond and felt there was a call to action. The question at that time is the present question, how can I best serve others and reduce harm? As a single parent with teens, I opted back into graduate school. The journey reignited the ol’ feelings from being a 90’s kid, Woodstock 99 of burn it to the ground, no institutions type of resurgence. While dealing with my own anger (I long thought had subsided- surprise!), I was able to create healthy management skills with some aged challenges and wrap up a degree. After school, the real work has begun in the next professional chapter. My intentions are clear, my mind/body/soul ready to serve others in the lens of harm reduction. With that as the foundation of service, I welcome clients to the therapy realm.
The most common approach to therapy used is transpersonal. While mindfulness is the buzz, the transpersonal extends further to create impact and meaning of these broad concepts to an individual experience. Transpersonal brings in the entirety of a client – mind, body, soul, spirit. The individual sense of self and beyond self (near death experiences, intuition, spirituality, altered states of consciousness) are all used to inform the setting. This may include Somatic Exploration, IFS, NARM, EFT, Gestalt, Existential, Mindfulness and most importantly humanistic approaches. There may be opportunities for DBT, CBT, NVC. Each client will be considered on an individual basis of wholeness to discern and co create a therapeutic path. If you don’t know what the above means, that is ok! Therapy will be co created, defined and explained openly. As we know, plans change. As a client’s needs change, so will the plan. There is opportunity to discover, seek, change, adapt and restart. I believe that everyone has the ability to heal individually, collectively and create intentional community.
