Therapeutic Approach:
Guiding values and ideas
My ethics and practice are informed by Narrative Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy as established theoretical approaches. Community and relational identity are ever present in my inquiries, as well as the belief that mind, body, and soul are one and the same.
In gratefulness, knowledge, and resilience, I also stand on the shoulders of my ancestors, relations, and the people with whom I’ve had the privilege to work.
Currently, I am exploring decolonial theory. I am interested in the effects of coloniality in construction of meaning, world-making, and ideas and practices in the field of mental health and healing.
I see therapy as a collaborative partnership.
In our work together I invite you to explore, imagine possibilities, and create contexts for living in preferred ways. Here are some of the questions that come up in my work with people:
What is important to you? What are the beliefs, values, and hopes that inform who you are, what you do, and how you are in relationships?
How do you engage with the ups and downs of life? What kinds of wisdoms inform your ways of dealing with them?
What is important to you in the different dimensions of your life? Your health, spirituality, and emotional wellbeing; you as a family member, as a co-worker, as a sexual and/or romantic partner, etc.
When consulting about a problem: How is it impacting your life? Does it allow you to honor yourself and others? Are there things that the problem has not been able to mess with? What would be possible for you if the problem was not there or had less influence?
When consulting about a hope, a project, or life initiative: Who are you and how are your life and relationships when you are enacting or working towards your hopes/projects/initiatives? What is involved in sorting out challenges? What helps you make decisions?
Traditionally, psychotherapy entails engaging in conversation, but who says we have to stop there? In addition to talking, my approach to explorations in therapy invites movement, play, writing, drawing, collage, etc. No need for having art training or technical knowledge, you don’t even need to consider yourself an artist. Our reflections will come from the process of making and experiencing rather than the piece you produce.
Expressive Arts Therapy
The International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA) defines Expressive Arts Therapy as a multimodal approach, a combination of "the visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing and other creative processes to foster deep personal growth and community development [...] By integrating the arts processes and allowing one to flow into another, we gain access to our inner resources for healing, clarity, illumination and creativity."
Narrative Therapy
The Dulwich Center offers this description of Narrative Therapy’s guiding ideas, as stated by Alice Morgan, in her book What is Narrative Therapy?:
Narrative therapy seeks to be a respectful, non-blaming approach to counselling and community work, which centres people as the experts in their own lives.
It views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many skills, competencies, beliefs, values, commitments and abilities that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives.
Curiosity and a willingness to ask questions to which we genuinely don’t know the answers are important principles of this work.
There are many possible directions that any conversation can take (there is no single correct direction).
The person consulting the therapist plays a significant part in determining the directions that are taken.
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