I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who specializes in body-focused psychotherapy, integrating talk therapy and body-focused therapy into my practice. After 30+ years in practice in the Decatur & Atlanta area, my commitment to and enthusiasm for my work continues to deepen and grow. Every day I get to draw from all that I have learned, blending it together in a unique way that allows me to attend to you as the individual that you are.
Because I believe that therapy is about our mind, our body, our emotions and our spirit, I have studied a wide array of body-focused practices in addition to my traditional training in talk psychotherapy. My professional trainings include:
- Master’s Degree in Counseling, Georgia State University, 1977; Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- The Rubenfeld Synergy® Method (CRS), 1993-1996
- The Integrative Process Method (CIPM), 1997-2004
- Brainspotting, (BSP), 2010
- Somatic Experiencing® Technique, 2004
- Voice Dialogue Technique, 1996
- Massage Therapy (CMT), 1990
Rubenfeld Synergy® Method
I studied for three years with Ilana Rubenfeld in New York City in the Rubenfeld Synergy® Method, a body-based style of psychotherapy integrating body, mind and spirit. It holds the deep belief that the healing potential already exists inside each of us and is waiting to be actualized. Focusing on the body and using gentle touch creates an altered state that allows us access to dialogue with the unconscious mind and tap into the long buried parts of ourselves that are more difficult to access in traditional talk psychotherapy. www.rubenfeldsynergy.com
The Integrative Process Method
I studied extensively with Dr. Werner Kundig, PhD in The Integrative Process Method, an energy based method of body-oriented psychotherapy. This process teaches how the body stores memory and how to release it both energetically and emotionally from the body.
Brainspotting
Brainspotting (BSP) is a powerful tool to help relieve unresolved symptoms of trauma, recurring anxiety and other ongoing emotionally charged issues that interfere with daily living. Although the event that triggered these reactions may reside in the past, it continues to interfere with a person’s ability to live peacefully and comfortably in the present.
Brainspotting identifies “spots” in the limbic center of the brain where emotional memory is processed and stored. It identifies eye positions (brain spots) that are activated when emotional memory becomes aroused and helps de-condition, and thereby decrease, the intensity of the response to that old, stored memory. www.brainspotting.pro
Somatic Experiencing®
Peter Levine’s Somatic Experiencing is a body-centered technique that helps release trauma from the body. This work is based on the observation that animals in the wild naturally regulate and neutralize high levels of arousal when in danger. While humans possess these same natural mechanisms, our rational minds often override them causing us pain, anxiety, and cognitive dysfunction. SE teaches us how to regulate, neutralize and discharge these highly charged feelings that get trapped in our bodies. Trauma then gets released and resolved. www.traumahealing.com
Voice Dialogue Training
Hal and Sidra Stone teach the Voice Dialogue Technique, a study of the Psychology of the Inner Selves. This technique helps us understand the ways in which we dialogue internally with ourselves. We learn to listen to who is speaking (the wounded child, the angry teenager, the critic, the protector, etc.), how that part came to be, why it is in charge at any given time, and how to manage them. Then we work to bring our healthier adult self to our everyday interactions instead of letting these reactive, less healthy, often sabotaging parts be in charge. www.delos-inc.com
Massage Therapy
My first step in becoming a body-focused therapist was to learn about the body and massage therapy taught me both the anatomy and physiology of the body as well as hands-on-techniques for working with it. While I no longer use massage in my practice, this was my introduction to how emotions and energy become trapped in the body and need to be released for full healing to occur.