PROGRESSIVE PSYCHOLOGY Local Psychotherapists and Life Coaches Use New Interactive Models
by Linda Sechrist P
sychology, which emerged as a distinct discipline approximately 50 years ago, has evolved far faster into its many forms than the perceptions that surround it. Due to outdated misconceptions, the public image of therapy is still about resting on a leather couch while hashing out a Pandora’s Box of childhood stories. By contrast, the majority of individuals that seek counseling today do so for specific, treatable issues—being stuck in an unfulfilling job or relationship, overcoming obstacles to goals, finding the courage to overcome an adversity or taking a risk or dealing with anxiety and the fear of change. The Journal of Counseling Psychology reports that 42 percent of patients average just three to 10 visits, all while sitting in a chair. One reason things have changed
may be due to a more interactive client/ therapist approach, according to a recent study by the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland. Local licensed psychotherapists and life coaches find that an interactive approach, along with the use of take-home problem-solving tools, is very successful.
An Interactive Approach Jill Wheeler, founder of WellFit Institute, blends psychotherapy with yoga psychol- ogy, expressive arts therapy and move- ment. The registered yoga teacher, who led outdoor adventures for 10 years, teaches integrative mindful techniques and leads full-day retreats with paddle boarding and walking meditations, as well as biking adventures in the Ever- glades. She also blogs regularly, has an active Twitter feed and Facebook page and uses inspiring and educational TED talks to spark deeper conversations with clients. “I’m careful about what
Jill Wheeler 40 Collier/Lee Counties
I blog and post,” says Wheeler, who instructs her clients on good nutrition and recommends that they spend time outdoors actively moving their bodies. “In traditional psychotherapy,
therapists don’t interact with clients outside an office setting. However, my blend of interaction, which meets high- functioning clients where they are in their lives, forms a deeper therapeutic bond. Ten years ago, therapists wouldn’t have remotely considered these tools,” advises Wheeler.
Past-Life Regression Therapy A tool that Kathleen D’Orsi uses in her therapy practice is past-life regression, which she studied with Dr. Brian Weiss. Author of Many Lives, Many Masters, and a psychiatrist, Weiss is a leader
out that she uses whatever method is most beneficial to the client. For ex- ample, if a client comes to therapy with grieving or loss issues, she works towards helping them to accept the reality of the loss; to work through the pain of grief; and to adjust to an environ- ment in which the deceased is missing. This method also involves using Jung- ian Active Imagination where the client experiences a private communication with their departed loved one as a way to heal unresolved grief.
Wright also uses regression ther- Kathleen D’Orsi
in the field of past-life therapy. “I do a comprehensive assessment and work with the client for several sessions to alleviate their symptoms before I deter- mine if past-life regression therapy is an appropriate model for them. It is very safe, and in my experience, clients who have tried other things generally respond by remembering something that helps them in this lifetime,” says D’Orsi who describes her practice as eclectic. “I’ve also studied Eckhart Tolle and Dr. Wayne Dyer. I incorporate their thinking and philosophies into my approach.” Marie Wright
integrates traditional psychotherapy with Jungian Active Imagination and/or Mindfulness Medita- tion, along with the Othmer Method of EEG Neurofeedback, a very powerful adjunct to psychotherapy. Wright points
Marie Wright
swfl.NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
apy, a therapeutic approach designed to look at past lives either metaphori- cally or as an actual event for the roots of problems and issues in the present life. For clients with childhood issues, she uses Inner Child Therapy, a body centered non-traumatizing approach that can dissolve frozen feelings held in the body/mind as blocks of energy and access childhood wounds for heal- ing, which is a priority for anyone on a journey of personal growth. “I use the Inner Advisor technique, another form of Jungian Active Imagination, to work with a wise figure within that can give a client information and advice about their feelings, motivations and behavior. Totem Pole Imagery is also used to guide a client in encountering an animal in each chakra or energy center. This work is deeply healing and transformative and can have remarkable effects in psychotherapy and personal growth,” remarks Wright.
An Integrative Approach A solution-oriented therapist, Kimberly Rodgers is collabo- rating on a research project with Florida Gulf Coast Univer- sity’s Department of Social Work. Together, they are tracking client experiences with yoga, Transformational Breath, Quantum De-Stress meditation, massage, aro- matherapy, sound healing and energy healing or any combination of services. Their study seeks to accumulate data to measure the benefits of an integrative approach to talk therapy that Rodgers has been using for two years.
Kimberly Rodgers
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