F.A.Q

Music therapy is the use of music as a tool to explore therapeutic goals beyond the traditional talk therapy model. This may look like guided meditations using music, songwriting, playing various instruments, singing, lyric analysis, and listening to recordings of preferred songs as a way to connect with and express emotions. You do not have to be a musician in order to benefit from music therapy!

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychoanalyst who centered the exploration of the unconscious as an crucial aspect of balancing oneself. If you’ve heard of “individuation”,  “shadow work”, “dream analysis”, or “mother/father complex”, many of these terms were brought into psychology as a result of Jung’s work. "Jungian-Informed" is an approach to therapy that goes beyond treating symptoms, delving deep into the unconscious mind to uncover the underlying sources of emotional distress. It is the idea that much of our behavior and emotions are trying to serve some sort of function, and explore how a seemingly “negative” emotion might be trying to achieve something "positive" for the person. Jung believed in the process of myth, dreams, and symbolism as a means to understand one’s unique inner life. In therapy with me, we may use various avenues such as music, dream analysis, creative expression and somatic experiencing to address your therapeutic goals.

Music is simultaneously a shared and personal experience. In sessions with me, you can be sure that you will guide the process of how we use music. Do you want to try a new instrument? Do you want to discover your voice? Great! I have the tools for that. What about writing songs? Yes! I support clients regularly with songwriting and recording original music. What if I’m shy, or if I can’t sing? No problem! There is never any expectation to “perform” - this is your therapy, after all. It works just as well to listen to preferred music, or use my musicianship to play what you've written.

Trauma is defined as past harm or negative experiences that affect a person’s mind, body, or behaviors in the present. It can happen as a result of abuse, violence or neglect. Trauma can also be due to a significant loss, war or a natural disaster. Trauma can happen to anyone, anytime, and the mental, physical, social and emotional effects of it can last a lifetime.
Let’s not sugarcoat it - trauma is often painful. Avoidance of pain is entirely normal, and can be terrifying to look at. In my experience, I have seen the methods of somatic and creative therapies really work to change the trauma narrative. Because trauma is stored in the body and nervous system, using the expressive arts allows us to explore trauma from a different angle and create a path of change. My aim is to create a safe, nonjudgmental environment conducive to healing trauma, so that you may live a truly fulfilling life.

“Liberation psychology is a body of thought and practice centrally concerned with the experience, knowledge and action of those who have been excluded and marginalized. The effects of dominant power and its structures on the oppressed are explored, together with the lived impacts of poverty, social injustice, censorship, repression and violence. Liberation psychologists aim to hear, amplify, and incorporate in their theory and practice the voices and knowledge of those “others” most affected by the kinds of oppression identified above.” - (libpsy.org/welcome/defining-liberation-psychology/)

For as long as humans have been humans, we have dreamed, and there have been many ways to interpret those dreams. Dream analysis in therapy is a technique that allows us to access the unconscious mind and what it might be trying to say about waking events in your life. Dreams can weave a symbolic narrative that feels deeply personal, and in sessions we can look at dreams as yet another way to gain a deeper understanding of your personal values, and how you might go about living those values.