Although talking is the most common form of therapy, the following provides a brief description of the additional techniques and approaches used to facilitate your emotional wellbeing.

Art

My consulting room is set up as a place to make art. I have a wide selection of materials some of which you will see in the room while others are stored away. Using art materials invites us into the nonverbal realm of our psyche where much of our emotional experiences and traumatic memories are held. My extensive training and certification as an art therapist gives me a solid knowledge of using art successfully and productively in your sessions. I am skilled with facilitating the creative process and integrating it with our therapy goals. When we use art materials we are using our brain and body in a different way. Not only is it relaxing and soothing, but specific materials are therapeutically indicated in order to facilitate the release of feelings. By placing them into a separate form a dialogue can begin to happen and our wounds can begin to heal. You don’t have to be an artist to use the materials—you just need to be open to trying. I may suggest using some materials or invite you to make something that responds to a feeling or experience, but I will never insist that you make art. Art may feel silly, a waste of time or too fun for therapy, but by creating something that holds and reflects our feelings, the nonverbal expression gives way to the discovery of new perspectives and behaviors.

You can also make art outside of sessions and bring the work into therapy. You could get a sketchbook or I might ask you to paint or draw your dreams or you may want to create a box where you keep special things for yourself. There are many ways that art therapy can be used—quickly creating an image of what you’re experiencing or taking more time to work on a project that reflects a situation or supports a new way in the world. Taking time on a daily basis to sketch is a contemplative practice that might lower your anxiety or interject some quiet time into your day. Art therapy is not just about using crayons nor is it about someone analyzing your art without your consent. Just like your dreams, I do not interpret your art without your participation and dialogue. We work together to listen and honor who you are and what it is you’re wanting from your life. Your associations are what matter most when working in any creative process whether it is working with art, dreams, sand tray or writing.

Dream Analysis

Dreams are images that arise from your unconscious and provide a clean picture of what is happening beyond your ego’s control. My training has given me an in depth experience of working with dreams from a classical Jungian approach. The dreams are useful for facilitating your personal associations, making an immediate connection to your feelings and memories, and expanding your sense of the numinous. Working with someone who is practiced in dream analysis moves the therapy into the depths of the psyche where lasting change can occur. Dreams and art are very compatible when accessing the crevices of your psyche that need an emotional “spring clean” and can be easily used together to access the numinous world.

Journaling

Writing about memories and feelings and keeping track of our thoughts is also shown to relieve stress, anxiety and depression and to bring about changes in our brain. You can bring your writing, poetry, or journal entries into session as a way to support your work. I recommend that after our sessions you take time to write about what we talked about before the world seeps into your mind and you lose some of the emotional threads. Writing post-therapy is an excellent way to track where you’ve been and to later look back and see what has changed.

Sand Tray

In my office I also have a sand tray with miniature objects that are used to create a 3-D pictures in the sand. Working in the sand is a sacred and archetypal experience that shifts our deeper layers. Some people remark that the process feels like an actual shift occurs within them. The sand tray process is often done in silence and can be done quickly in the beginning of the session or can be used to amplify a dream or feeling. The tray stays in its form until the end of the session. I will take a picture of your tray so that you can have a record of your work. After you leave, I dismantle the tray, which allows you to leave the session with the whole image in your mind.

Focusing, EMDR Resourcing, Guided Imagery and Active Imagination

Each of these techniques access your imagination to clear out the emotional clutter so that you can find the true essence of what is needed next. These approaches move the therapy to new emotional places, increase your confidence and offer solutions to get “unstuck.” Finding a safe place for retreat, dialoguing with a dream symbol, or using your body through focusing techniques to find a “felt sense” about your choices are a few examples of how we engage with the numinous, build your resources and resiliency, work with traumatic triggers and memories, minimize reactivity and establish emotional regulation and healthy attachments.

The expressive arts are naturally healing and support a strength based approach. Each of us has a wealth of stored information within our unconscious and in our body, but we often neglect our creative and imaginative abilities (which we all have) that can acknowledge and counteract such things as fear, grief and loss, anxiety, depression, trauma triggers, and somatic reactions. Each of these techniques support our ability to listen to our inner sense of personal authority and wisdom.

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