As an integrative transpersonal psychotherapist, I use various approaches (psychodynamic, existential, humanistic, meditative, Jungian, transpersonal) and various tools (psychoanalytical, analytic, Gestalt, CBT, MBCT, MBSR, Somatic Experiencing, Inner Space Techniques etc) according to your needs at a given time.
I maintain a transpersonal standpoint in all approaches, that is, a connection to spiritual rather than psychological archetypes, to the qualities of your essence in the spiritual world – it is this transpersonal perspective that facilitates a profound participation during our sessions, allowing for a larger dimension of yourself to accompany you towards resolution and healing.
Although as a psychotherapist I position my consciousness in the realm of the sacred, there is no preaching. Your views and spiritual values, or lack of interest thereof, are fully respected.
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Do you know why you do the things you do? Probably not.
You are pulled by forces beyond your control; life and death instincts compel you to behave in certain ways that often make no sense to you.
You are split inside: your ego fights your impulses and ‘inner critic’ in an eternal recommencement – you never know which motivates you.
But fear not: by carefully examining your life, you will understand the mystery that is your own mind.
The term ‘psychodynamic’ refers to the set of psychological theories of the human personality & functioning that include Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, as well as those that followed, for example, the developmental approaches and concepts of John Bowlby, Donald Winnicott, or Melanie Klein.
The psychodynamic approach in psychotherapy is a ‘global therapy’ taking into account all of your experience. You explore your unconscious processes (needs, beliefs, urges, desires) as manifested in your current behaviour.
The goal is for you to become aware of your unconscious patterns and their source, to understand the influence of your past on your present, and to become free to keep only that which serves you.
As you do, your life and your inner experience of yourself transform, and a new self-awareness that is more functional and positive gradually takes hold.
You will be stunned by what you uncover about yourself … you’ll probably be as embarrassed as awed.
Everyone is to some degree hostage to the base instincts of libido and aggression. These instincts will show themselves to you (and me) in the process of transference (and counter-transference).
No need then to feel ashamed or afraid of them: Welcome them, for they constitute your biggest reservoir of psychic energy. By becoming conscious, you reveal and develop their positive strength, and ensure that they become forces at the service of your personal growth.
Too often your ‘inner critic’ reproves you severely, and further criticizes the behaviour that is directly driven by your impulses. No need to shut it out entirely though, be strategic. You can learn to channel its strength and allow it to drive your moral life. Once given power in its favourite field, your critic becomes your ally, and the constant doubt that permeated all aspects of your life evaporates. You are in control of your life. Ultimately, the psychodynamic approach will help you develop ego function, that which mediates between your unconscious and the rest of the world. As you use reality-testing, you will realise that you can have what you want in this life without having to experience too much pain or discomfort.
Eventually, you become aware of all your buried emotions and thoughts, and so take back the control of your life.
We all grow through the same series of psychosexual developmental stages. Unfortunately, many of us remain fixated at some point along the way, which causes difficulties in our life.
For example, if you have a control problem you are likely stuck in the anal phase. In life you may turn out to be anal retentive with a behaviour that is overly self-controlled – stingy, stubborn and perfectionist. Or you may be anal expulsive with a behaviour devoid of any kind of limit – messy, careless and chaotic. When you discover the source of your behaviour, your blockages fluidify. Equilibrium comes back into your life and with it, your potential for growth.
Like everyone you have developed your very own defense mechanisms. For example, in order not to experience the anxiety that destabilizes you, perhaps you push anxiety-carrying thoughts and emotions deep down into your unconscious. You take good care of yourself.
Some of your defense mechanisms are helpful. However, they eventually stop serving you.
Believe it or not, you can begin to understand them, select the ones that are useful to you, and change behaviours that no longer help you.
You can work through it all. You can accept your defenses and reach equilibrium between the various facets that compose who you are.
‘I look forward to earning your trust, working together, and helping you accomplish your goals’.
Carl Gustav Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875. Life was complicated. His older brother had died at a few days old. His mother suffered from depression and, as a result, imprinted his life with the unpredictability of her presence. His father, a dour pastor, questioned his faith. These childhood experiences and others that followed greatly affected the introverted youth. From there, it is only natural that he dedicated his life to helping others understand how memories, including those that we do not remember consciously, play a determining role in our lives.
Jung headed off to college with the intention of studying something prestigious. At the time, psychiatry was in its infancy and did not have the prestige he desired. Nevertheless, he fell in love with the subject. He decided to study medicine specialising in psychiatry. He almost had to drop out when his father died and left him penniless. But his extended family rallied and helped him finish his education…
If you ever thought yourself introverted or extroverted; if you ever loved or hated the ‘New Age’; if you ever took a Myers-Briggs personality or spirituality test; if you ever sat facing your therapist rather than lying on the couch – in all these cases, you can thank one man: Carl Gustav Jung.
There are certain things that we know about ourselves and the world we live in. However, much of what is true about life is hidden to our ordinary mind. It’s as if we exist in a dream, where certain aspects make sense, but many seem out of place or confusing. In part, you may be aware of what is going on within and around you but feel foggy when it comes to the full meaning of your life.
We may think that we are in charge of our own future. To a certain extent, we are. However, much of life is motivated by the unconscious. Thus, your life is informed by your personal unconscious, that is, by your own memories and experiences still alive in the depths of your psychic and somatic memories. Your life is also guided by the collective unconscious, that is to say, by the history passed down to you by all previous generations, from the beginning of times.
Through therapy, you learn to bring the unconscious into consciousness. You can recover and reclaim your buried memories. In addition, you learn to notice and use archetypes as well as other tools, and discover the lessons available to all through the collective unconscious.
As you do, you finally start to feel whole.
The Jungian approach to therapy is a form of creative talk therapy that delves deep into your unconscious to help you heal. This can help you with a variety of issues, including depression, anxiety and trauma. There is no need for a specific diagnosis to benefit from this therapy; everyone can grow from experiencing the balanced perspective that arises through doing this work.
We all present a certain self to the world. This self is real, but it is not the whole. Through Jungian therapy, you will delve deeper into your real essence, your entirety (the Jungian Self). You will learn to use a variety of tools to unite your conscious self and unconscious. These tools include:
In other words, you will use your creative side to access the memories – personal and collective – that will allow you to live with your whole self.
Where a behavioural therapeutic approach targets a certain aspect of your problematic and relieves you momentarily, the Jungian approach in psychotherapy allows you to address the source of your conflicts, and heal your wounds in depth.
Indeed, this approach is not focused on your symptoms, seeing them rather as the result of a disconnection between your conscious and unconscious. It remedies this imbalance by connecting the two through a process called ‘individuation’.
Each of us is unique. However, most of us fail to realise our fully individualized self. We get stuck. Our emotions confuse us. The potential to determine our future is there, but we self-sabotage. All this is the result of an inner battle.
Therapy let you see this battle and defuse it. When you connect to the unconscious, you feel increasingly whole. You understand yourself deeply. Your inner conflicts are resolved by the integration of each past experience. As a result of this process, your real self emerges. Once this work is done, you naturally tend towards balanced, harmonious and healthy choices. Thus, you go beyond the simple relief of your symptoms: you get the opportunity to truly realize your full potential.
Why live your life in a slumber, with your self hidden to your consciousness? This therapy requires a profound engagement on your part, but the reward of wholeness is well worth the effort. And you will have the benefit of a guide to enlighten and travel this journey with you.
Transpersonal psychotherapy combines all psychological approaches known to date with the knowledge from spiritual traditions.
It is by looking into your personal human experience and by unraveling and digesting its chaos and shadow that you reach the solid foundation from where to access the true transpersonal, sans risk of spiritual bypass.That is why it is essential that the tools and techniques of classic psychotherapeutic modalities are employed to deal with the pre-personal and personal material that is a part of you and of each one of us.
The transpersonal approach in psychotherapy is a holistic therapy that integrates the dimension of the sacred into a variety of methods ranging from psychodynamic to cognitive-behavioural therapies, through to Somatic Experiencing, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt, Jungian and transpersonal tools among others. It opens to a scope beyond the psychological, so as to mobilize the full dimension of your being beyond the workings of your mind (psyche, emotions, and thoughts). Its main difference lies in its active search for the spiritual dimension and the transformative vitality that is bounded into it.This ‘spiritual’ is neither magic thought nor a belief in sources external to yourself – these only cut you off from the reality of your human functioning and environment, and would trigger a strengthening of your illusions and resistances.
Practices established as transpersonal aim at a deconditioning of your mind, towards a reconnection to the qualities and resources of your essential nature. You become connected to archetypal, spiritual rather than psychological forces, to the eternal qualities of your presence in the sacred realm, beyond the collective unconscious. These practices include:
If you think that you won’t know how to meditate or to experience the subtle, or if you never practiced meditation or mindfulness, please inhale and exhale calmly…These anxieties are defenses put up by your ego which feels so rightly let down when you plan to move beyond it! Meditating corresponds entirely to our natural human functioning, to the intuitive fold of your being. You will realize the simplicity and ease of this involution process by being introduced to it in a therapeutic setting by an experienced professional.