We Did It!

It has been a full week since Seattle School of Body-Psychotherapy's first class completed our first week-long intensive together and I can't go another moment without boasting about it!  We have a great group of mature, dedicated and eager people come to deepen their presence both personally and professionally.  It was such an exhilarating experience for me to see this entity manifest and to finally be in it instead of planning or promoting it.  I especially loved having the long stretch of time to really explore the material and our experience with it, and to develop our ongoing group.  It also reconnected me to my teachers and the lineage-s of the work I do.

Seriously it was more fun than I even imagined it would be, well worth the amazing amount of work it has taken to get the school going.  And one of the greatest rewards of all that effort was, this past week, to have some of the deepest sleeps I have ever experienced! It feels so good to be waking up rested again! 

Meanwhile life goes on here at Body-Psychotherapy of Seattle and SSBP, tomorrow is November's Process Group meeting and next Friday is our first Counseling Skills class and as of last Monday I am back on my regular client schedule until our next week-long class in January.  If you you know anyone who might be interested in the school next year let them know now so they can start planning ahead, I am taking calls about it all of the time.

Have a wonderful November and I hope you too have much to be thankful for!

NASW CEU Approval

Hurray!  Just one week before class our CEU's are approved for year one of the program.  It feels good to know students of SSBP will be able to get credit for our work together.  One more week....

Books books books!

Along with the standard Core energetic curriculum I have been divining what would be best the best book to use for class on trauma theories.  There are many good writers on the topic these days.  But I am so happy that Bessel Van Der Kolk, one of my first therapy heroes and the pioneer who began asking the right questions that led to the development of the field, has just come out with a new book, The Body Keeps Score.  It's a perfect fit and complete and easy to read with interesting historical data and stellar research. He is an old school psychiatrist who seeks true understanding and well tested treatments.  Yoga is at the top of his list for trauma survivors- now that is unique for a Psychiatrist!

This year we will also be using Core Energetic classics Elizabeth Michaels, Bent Out Of Shape; Alexander Lowen, The Vibrant Way to Health; and Stephen Johnson, Character Styles.

There is still room for YOU!

Reposting...

These days I notice that clients often call looking for a specific technique that they have heard about such as Focusing or EMDR.  Many therapists have many different techniques in their tool box while others build their whole therapy around one specialization, this is especially common with EMDR.  Yet there is a big difference between an intervention, something that you do to facilitate change, and a larger paradigm that helps you organize and make sense of all of the information that you see in the client /system. 

The theory informs and provides options for many different interventions for the different presentations that occur and the different stages of healing a client may be in.  Inside the chosen theory interventions are easily tailored to a person's unique personality and paradigm.

I have found Core Energetics to be an especially useful lens from which to work with clients in many different ways.  The most useful aspect is the understanding of the developmental stages of life and how what happens in each stage leads to how we react in the next stage.  Another invaluable aspect is having the tools to change the body structure along with the emotions, thinking patterns and behaviors.  With this body structure comes enduring holding patterns that affect all of these other levels of being.  Core explores and unwinds these deep physiological processes.

I sometimes tell people the journey of therapy is like going on a river rafting trip.   I am the guide; I have a map and know the territory, I know where the rapids are and how to navigate them.  But I have never been on this particular trip with this particular person before, it will be a unique journey that we undertake together.   I am so glad to be working from a trustworthy theory that provides a consistent frame and gives me structure but allows me to be completely present with the client's unique situation.

Registration is Extended, Call Now!

Happy beautiful Sunday morning.  We have a lovely Core Group signed up for our first year of classes and I am excited to say that registration is extended for the 2014-15 class.  We are going to have fun, learn a lot and get inspired in helping people and deepening our own presence.  Come join us!

Fast Approaching!

Just a friendly reminder for those of you who have an expressed an interest in the School:  I am looking to have all the applications in by September 10, which is next Wednesday already!