Modalities & Mentors
The Hakomi Method
Ron Kurtz
The foundation of my work is The Hakomi Method, which is based on a reverence for the deep wisdom that resides in the body, and a belief that we each contain an inner healer that knows our path towards healing. This instinct toward self-healing flourishes when it is met with open hearted engagement, compassion, and safety. The client is invited into a state of awareness in which they have greater access to that guiding wisdom. This is one of the most elegant techniques I have encountered, to actually replace limiting core beliefs with more empowering and expansive ones.
Relational Somatic Healing
Shirley Dvir
Relational Somatic Healing is a therapeutic modality that fully immerses the client in a new experience of a healthy, authentic, real, loving relationship with the therapist in the here and now. This enables clients to experience a healthy relationship with themselves, and the world. This can be a very powerful method to heal Relational Developmental Trauma from the early years of life, that can otherwise feel so pervasive. It invites us into a depth of connection in relationship that might have felt previously unimaginable.
My work is trauma informed, and based in the understanding that we are wired for healing, and trauma is held at the body level and heals when we come into a complete sense of safe connection. I am always building connections and tracking for signs of embodied trauma to come into support the nervous system to expand its capacity to regulate, and remain settled, through the exploration of stuck trauma that naturally begins to present itself when true safety is available.
This is a very elegant system of exploring different parts of the self, that may have split off in response to a difficult life event, big or small. When wounded and protective parts are stuck in the past, they may compel us act to in ways we regret or don’t understand or feel out of alignment, as well as hold tension and energy. When they are contacted directly, and with curiosity, we can update and free these hard working parts, to bring their energy and gifts into the present moment, and to begin to build a wholeness that may include a greater sense of self worth, less anxiety and depression, more creativity, and more choice. It becomes easier to have agency to decide how we want to respond to present life circumstances, and come from a more fully embodied, coherent self.
The Tamura Method Psychotherapeutic Touch
Wynn Tamura
This gentle, but powerful psychotherapeutic touch is a unique way to work closely together to heal deep seated wounds. With the help of energetic touch, we contact past wounding to settle attachment patterns and trauma that may be held in body tension, to facilitate major transformations, soothe the nervous system, and augment a reconnection to the whole self. Psychotherapeutic touch invites the client deepen their embodiment, and offers nervous system recalibration, as well as a deeper opportunity to experience the authentic support of a safe, therapeutic relationship.
Shamanic Practices and Expanded State Therapy
Ecotherapy & The Work That Reconnects Joanna Macy & The Holos Institute
I work with individuals, groups, and couples to design and facilitate daylong or multi-day ceremonies to mark life transitions, and natural developmental stages, come into deeper connection to the inner voice and nature, and to move past stuck patterns or traumas to gain a more expansive perspective from which we can live. These experiences are infused with sound healing and song medicine, movement, collective healing, nature connection, and other sacred invitations to move towards a greater awareness. They may take place indoors to deepen the dive inward, or outdoors to receive the support of the wild ones and the nurturing care of our wild spaces.
Typical Session Format
I offer 60, 90, and 120 minute ongoing sessions, or 5 week bundles, to support clients with a more focused piece of work, often with the gentle allyship of sacred medicines. I also offer daylong work, personal 2 day retreats, and group retreats. I work on Zoom, as well as in person in Oakland and Grass Valley both indoors and outdoors. While the foundation of my work is Hakomi, sessions can include multiple modalities, such as eco-therapy, mindfulness coaching, self-regulation techniques, music therapy, internal "parts" dialog, or psychotherapeutic touch, whatever appears to be in greatest service, and with enthusiastic consent from the client.
