Where Do You Go When You’re “Done” with Therapy?
You’ve been to therapy before and learned all the coping skills.
You’re functioning, but you’re not thriving.
You want to get more out of therapy.
You know how to ground yourself in the moment and breathe. You know your automatic thought patterns and can talk yourself out of believing irrational thoughts.
But something still seems like something is missing.
You want to go deeper.
Beyond CBT – What’s Next for Your Therapy Journey?
What if I told you that over-rational approach that’s so popular right now and CBT is cutting you off from other parts of yourself so that you’re at odds with yourself, fighting against and disallowing your emotions, physical sensations, and fantasies?
Why are these parts important? It’s because that’s how your unconscious speaks to you through images, fantasies, dreams, and physical sensations.
The Importance of Processing Trauma Through the Body
Not surprisingly, the current trauma research shows that to fully heal from trauma, it must be processed by relating to the body’s physical sensations. This is especially true for C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder) or childhood trauma. You can learn more about work after the crisis is over in my blog here.
Also, I talk more about some of the techniques I use on my art therapy page, which you can read more about here.
Your anxiety or depression is a powerful guide of your body and your unconscious trying to give you messages. It’s telling you to pay attention and listen so that you can change your course of action in your life. Then you can move into your power toward an inspired, fulfilling life.
You’ll be able to rest, you won’t have to be vigilant against negative thought patterns, and you’ll not only be able to hear the voice of your intuition, but you’ll also be able to make decisions, and finally,
trust yourself.
The Origins of Art Therapy
From my perspective, Carl Jung was the originator of art therapy. He also incorporated the idea of the transcendent function into treatment. This is the idea that change can be an intensely transformative experience.
Many clients want to incorporate their values and spiritual beliefs into their therapeutic process. This idea is a part of Jungian psychology, depth therapy, and dream work. Your belief structures are uniquely yours and are essential because every course of depth therapy is designed for the individual. It isn’t manualized, sterilized, or generalizable.
If you’re rolling your eyes right now and spirituality sounds woo-woo, systems theory can also describe this idea. Ask me how new information must be introduced for a closed system (read stuck pattern) to become an open one.
As I said, my treatment style is entirely individualized.
If you’ve said in the past that a particular technique “doesn’t work for me,” my approach might be a better fit.
Individualized Depth Therapy
Depth therapy doesn’t try to make the anxiety disappear; that’s what meds do and cut you from what you need to consciously process.
Instead, we lean in and get curious as we
move through the dark, the fog, the confusion, and the uncertainty together.
This is the beauty of an unfolding mystery!
I create a secure therapeutic container to mix up the alchemical soup of dreams, hopes, and energy
for the metamorphosis process to do its magic.
We are Co-Creators with the Universe, the transcendent function, the unconscious…. call it what you will.
Depth therapy doesn’t teach coping skills and managing symptoms by throwing medication at them. Depth therapy and dream work are highly individualized approaches that learn the symbolic language of your dreams and your images so that you can make sense of the archetypal story you’re living in the context of your life.
Building A Relationship With Your Interior World
This exploration examines how your dreams tell you to realign with your personal myth.
As you build a relationship with your interior world, you start to harmonize with ALL of your parts, not just the rationalized conscious ones.
Bring me your astrological chart, your queerness, your darkness.
Bring me your demons, your freaky nightmares.
I’m not afraid of your impulses, fantasies, or negative voices.
This is how we create that bridge in shadow work. This work can’t be done without disallowing and keeping parts of ourselves hidden. If we can’t talk about it, we can’t work on it.
Embracing Your Shadow
Shadow work isn’t the parts of yourself you don’t like. It’s what is SO NOT YOU- it’s what was definitely not okay in your family growing up. It’s the childhood years you can’t remember and the part that drives you nuts about your partner.
I’m ready for it.
This therapeutic alchemical vessel can handle it.
There are no judgments here; I walk with you along the way through the trials, help you recognize and celebrate your joys, witness and mirror your process,
so, you can recognize your true self.
Let’s do the Work!
I’m Maggi, an Art Psychotherapist in Columbus
Why am I good at depth psychology? Well, I’m a highly intuitive nerd. I see the unseen; I can help you become aware of the things that you didn’t see before that were holding you back—your blind spots.
Here’s some highlights of my nerdy journey.
I’ve had a life-long interest in dreams, art, mythology, symbolism, ritual, and culture. These interests turned into an undergraduate degree in fine art with a minor in anthropology in 2003. At the graduation ceremony, I gave the convocation speech and highlighted the symbolism of the labyrinth as a life journey and talked about rites of passage.
After gaining some “life experiences,” I went back to school because I wanted a career where I could help people with a Master’s of Science in Art Therapy at Florida State University with focused study on Jungian and archetypal Art Therapy.
Furthermore, I studied with the Assisi Institute: earning a Master’s level certificate in dream pattern analysis, completing the Voice of Psyche training in unconscious communication, and 3 years of study in the Archetypal Pattern Analysis program.
Currently, I’m continuing to further my training as a Training candidate at the CG Jung Institute, Zurich.
If you’re ready to explore your passions, motives, impulses, insecurities, defenses, and your projections onto others- both positive and negative- schedule a call. I’d love to work with you.
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What if I’ve never been to therapy before?
“You talk about depth psychology as the next step after traditional therapy, but what if I’ve never been to therapy before? Is depth work right for me?”
Short answer: yes. While I do talk about depth psychology as the next phase of therapy after doing some foundational work, I can help you with that as well. If you’ve never been in therapy before, I will help you build the skills you need to dive further.
No one plunges into the depths of the ocean without first knowing how to use SCUBA gear. The same is true for depth psychotherapy. We will first work to establish some appropriate ways to help you when/if you feel overwhelmed. This could be through some breathing exercises, meditation, or other grounding techniques. Once you feel confident in your ability to deal with distress, we can begin wading in. This is always at your pace and when you are ready. I am always assessing your comfort. This is one of the beauties of depth psychotherapy. I am not following a strict protocol or worksheet. Life is not a fill-in-the-blank; your psyche isn’t either. I try to attune to your needs and comfort level as you are ready for each step.
Is Depth Psychotherapy really better than CBT?
It’s really not a matter of which one is better or worse than the other as both serve a function. If you are in constant distress or in a crisis, CBT and/or medication may be the first step to helping you find relief the fastest.
If you are ready to dive deeper into your subconscious and develop a greater sense of awareness and fulfillment, depth psychotherapy may be a good fit for you.
How long does depth work take?
The answer, of course, is it varies. True depth work is never-ending and many clients find benefit in either continued work or revisiting it over the course of many years. As much as we know, there is so much that we do not yet understand- the unconscious mind is just one part of that mystery.
Most clients will work with me for a minimum of weekly sessions for 3 to 6 months. After that, they may choose to continue with ongoing work to enhance their lives. I will work with you to determine what fits best for you.
How do I get started with depth therapy in Columbus?
Getting started is easy. The first step is to schedule your free, online initial consultation. During this conversation, we will explore your goals for therapy, give you the opportunity to ask questions about how I work, and determine if we are a great fit for each other. If we feel like we can jam, we will then schedule your intake session ASAP.
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