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                                                 Welcome!

“Your vision will become clear only when

you look inside into your heart.

Who looks outside dreams.

Who looks inside awakens."

C. G. Jung



I have a Doctor in the Philosophy of Depth Psychology with Emphasis in Depth Psychotherapy from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and I am passionate about the journey of our psyche. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and a Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor (LISAC-inactive) in the state of Arizona. I am also a National Certified Counselor (NCC).

My therapy approach is anchored in depth psychology, which means working with the unconscious addressing unresolved underlying issues. Through self-reflection and self-examination I assist clients to find patterns in their emotions, thoughts, and beliefs in order to gain insight into their current self. I welcome such material, and hold it by leaning on classical, post-Jungian, and Neo-Jungian thoughts. This means that my approach is eclectic including structural dissociation theory, and interpersonal neurobiology.

My view is to work from a holistic integrative approach including dreams, images, art, and ideas as all part of the language for us to pay attention and listen to in order to find our own interpretations. The answers will come.

Psychotherapy activates many psychic levels, and I work both linear and deep from a strong psychodynamic psychotherapeutic base. I might use experiential methods including Psychodrama, and Transformational Chairwork to assist in eliciting a better understanding of ourselves and to help psyche heal. I am also versed in evidence based therapies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

My personall creed is that we all deserve to become who we are meant to be, and to live the life we deserve to have.

 






SPECIALTIES -

PTSD, Complex Trauma, Anxiety, Depression

Licensed Professional Counselor #13298

Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor #11839 (Inactive)

National Certified Counselor #91286

Post Inductive Therapy (PIT), Meadows Professional Training, 2018

EMDR trained in March 2021

 

WELCOME TO

SENTIENCE PSYCHOTHERAPY LLC

SENTIENCE: is the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.

MY THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

Therapy is not always a one-time fix, but a journey we can take several times. As a person centered psychotherapist I will assist you in reaching your therapeutic goals. In a collaborative exploration we will visit unresolved inner conflicts and issues, and identify involved unwanted feelings. We will also explore underlying, unresolved messages - perhaps anchored already in childhood - that drives negative behaviors today interfering with daily life.

My approach is anchored in C. G. Jung’s thought when he indicated more than a century ago that we cannot have a thought without a feeling, and vise versa, suggesting that "possible but fairly probable even [that a feeling and a thought] are two different aspect of one and the same thing” (C. G. Jung, 1954).

I am also a follower of contemporary neuroscience, which suggests that "Feeling states as we currently conceive them, consists of the automatic emergence of an experiential aspect of the neural mapping of ongoing body states. The mappings become subjective and thus constitute the beginning of sentience, the very foundation for what, in its elaborate form, constitutes consciousness" (Damasio, 2012).

 

 

Your Personal Journey

Trauma

Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster. Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. While these feelings are normal, some people have difficulty moving on with their lives. Psychologists can help these individuals find constructive ways of managing their emotions. (Adapted from the APA Help Center article, "Recovering emotionally from disaster.")


Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD; also known as complex trauma disorder) is a psychological disorder that can develop in response to prolonged, repeated experience of interpersonal trauma in a context in which the individual has little or no chance of escape (Cortman, 2018).


Addiction

Addiction disorders take over a person’s life and tear families apart, causing emotional trauma, relationship problems, and can cause serious physical problems. Addiction can create a sense of hopelessness where the person feels out of control. This process can cause severe depression and may lead to suicide.


Individuals seeking treatment for alcohol and substance abuse are likely to have a history of trauma (Wiechelt, 2014). In fact, there is a relation between increased trauma exposure and substance use (Shields, Delany, & Smith, 2015; Wolf, Nochajski & Farrell, 2015). In addition, as the severity of the experienced trauma increases, there is also an increase in severity of substance abuse, as well as other negative life outcomes (Wolf et al., 2015).








Life Challenges

Being diagnosed with a mental health diagnosis can create unwanted struggles. What is not always the case is that the diagnosis as a description of a mental state, does  not necessarily warrant the sole reason for our struggles. How we use our metacognition, or think about our thinking, feelings, and behaviors is also involved creating difficulties reaching a healing process.

 

Areas affected are multiple. For some of us it might have a relationship aspect to it; or it might be a personal matter, which all brings to surface challenges such as:

life changing decisions, grieving, work issues, moving, health issues, relationship difficulties,  finances, education, becoming a parent, etc.

These are just a few examples of challenges that suddenly can seem hard to go through and/or overcome.

 

What follows in the wake of any such challenge are unwanted feelings, which often show up as a problem in addition to our challenge, demanding us to cope with them.

C. G. Jung stated in his research that when we include the activity of our thoughts, and our feelings we are likely to experience a vital spiritual experience of  change (von Eggers, 2017).

 

I work with individuals, adults, and older adults, who might identify a struggle in any, or some of the following mental health areas:

  • Addiction
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Eating Issues
  • Grief
  • Pain/Somatic Issues
  • Personality issues
  • PTSD/Complex PTSD
  • Trauma
  • Dissociative Disorder
Or, if you experience any other behavior, thoughts, feelings, or belief systems that no longer serves any purpose in your life, you will have the opportunity to  explore underlying, unresolved motives that drive these, and to uncover how these motives assist in intrinsic healing.  

I am a in network with the following insurance companies:

Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Optum, United Health Care

NPI: 1497265714


                 

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