COUNSELLING
Psychotherapy must remain an obstinate attempt of two people to arrive at a recovery of the wholeness of being human through the relationship between them.
– R.D.Laing
Although my initial training is in Counselling, Psychodynamic, Gestalt Therapy, and Perinatal Psychology, the essential principles of my practice come out of almost three decades of personal therapy and apprenticeship with Psychotherapist, Andrew Feldmár, who studied with the renowned and controversial Scottish Psychiatrist R.D.Laing, one of the leading figures of the counterculture of the 60th. Auspiciously, my university thesis was inspired by the work of Laing and Basaglia, so it was a full circle moment, meeting Feldmár in 1996, after moving to Canada.
In my practice I aspire to reconnect my clients with the sacredness of every day life, through authentic, living and loving relationships, recovering the wholeness of being human, with all its joys and sorrows.
My particular curiosity is working with the innate wisdom of the soma, the living cell of the body, applying essential Yogic principle of ‘paying close attention’. Attention, as Simone Weil says, in itself, is the purest form of love. As per Buddhist psychology, cultivating the two, wisdom and love, consequently invites freedom and lasting happiness.
Details bellow.
Price: $155 /hr (tax included)*
First session is always 90 min long.
Note that payment in e-transfer, is due before the session.
I practice inclusion, so If after the initial session money is the only obstacle to continue counselling, the fees may be re-negotiated. Please read our attending and cancellation policy bellow.
Inspiration: Is there such thing as trauma?
Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death.
~ R.D.Laing
As in the lineage of my teacher Feldmár and Laing, my approach is rooted in interpersonal social phenomenology, equal presence, moment-to-moment awareness, and the practice of non-harm, Ahimsa (Sanskrit: अहिंसा.), which is the same principle as the Hippocratic Oath of “Do not harm.”
Instead of treating mental illness diagnosis, I pay attention to what arrises in the body memory, lingering within clients ambiguity and suffering and expressed in a relationship in-between.
This memory can originate as early as our own birth, including the relationship of our parents, or, as politics and ethics passed down epigenetically though our ancestral line, culture or education.
The one common denominator of all the variety of mental illness described in DSM, is trauma.
~ Judith Lewis Herman
Why social phenomenology versus medical models?
Known as a radical psychiatrist (as per Latin Radix – root), as well as Yoga practitioner, R.D. Laing spoke of so called mental “illness” as a wrong and misleading metaphor. Therefore the issue is more ethical (how we treat each other) and political (miss-use of power), rather than something being inherently wrong within.
Not that long ago, however, trauma (PTSD) is considered to be a brain disease and treated as such (lobotomy, electric shock therapy etc.). Observing this, Laing considered mental illness diagnosis represented by the DSM a dangerous disambiguation. He went as far as saying that this, most popular among psychiatry and wide, diagnostic dictionary is equivalent to the manual of hunting witches from 1487, written by a Catholic Clergyman and Inquisitor.
Where can one look for further research?
As an award winning medical journalist Robert Whitaker, specialized in mental illness research, he writes and speaks extensively on the futility of the medical approach to mental disease. Similarly, Psychiatrist and Academic, Joanna Moncrieff in her extensive research offers an analysis of the pervasive myth of the commonly spoked chemical imbalance of the brain. It is sobering to look at the on-going research of the side effects of the psychopharmacology and their addictive quality, which may be a strong contributor of the current alarming opioid crisis and other form of addictions.
Research also shows that this approach to mental health crisis is not being resolved, in fact, the statistics only reflect its rapid rise, as over 8 million people, only in US, take prescribed psychoactive medications and the alarming statements that, only in the last ten years, 20-35 % of children’s are being diagnosed and majority of them medically treated (reference; Whitaker and Moncrieff).
Is “Healing” mental or spiritual?
A false self is for surviving, a true self is for living and thriving.
Laing have observed that, so called civilized humans are generally psycho-phobic, terrified of their mind, and their soul becoming alive.
Hence, a healing process, as an embodied process, means befriending our Psyche (ψῡχή =psykhē/psūkhē), our Soul, which, etymologically has the same Indo-European root to breathing, relaxing, being.
For psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, the deepest form of healing is the very pinnacle of spiritual experience, depicted as the Greek Hieros Gamos ( ἱερὸς γάμος,) the sacred marriage of our psyche, Soul (Anima) with the Spirit (Animus).
For the Radical therapist, the phenomenology of healing itself can be depicted, as in Hegelian language, a process of emancipation (etymology: verb eman·ci·pate \i-ˈman(t)-sə-ˌpāt\. : to free (someone) from someone/control or power over.) Therefore, it is a daring process of decolonizing our psyche and our world.
Hence, the process and structure of healing itself cannot be achieved individually ( i. e. “working on oneself”). It can only be cultivated and come out of the communion with other/s, based on the practice of love, non-violence, solidarity, equity and care.
INSPIRATIONS:
The Depression Confession – Talk by Andrew Feldmar.
“To be a Healer”, Interview with Vivek Murty and Krista Tippet, On Being.
*all prices include GST
WORKING HOURS, IN-PERSON ATTENDING AND CANCELLATION POLICY
No Refund, Exchange or Transfer of sessions.
I require all my sessions to be paid 24 hr in advance, except the intake(first)session, when I require payment to be sent two business days in advance in order to secure your spot.
Please, do not come if you have any symptoms.
If you are scheduled in-person and have symptoms, the sessions will automatically be changed for on-line instead, unless cancelled in time.
My regular hours are Mon-Fri 9-4 p.m. Last client is at 3 p.m.
Note that a minimum of my 2 business days (48 hr Mon-Fr) is required in writing, for changing or cancellation of your scheduled appointment, otherwise the full amount will be charged.
The cause of missing an appointment is of no consequence. If you give me less than required notice, and I succeed in finding someone to take your appointment, your fee will be waived.
This policy is not punitive; it is to cushion me from the vicissitudes of your life.
Disclaimer: The practices we offer are not meant to be medical services. If in doubt, please consult your medical practitioner.
My practice should not be construed as advocating for the use of psychedelic or any illegal substances. I do not suggest, provide or administer such substances. I am present in my professional capacity and harm reduction. I do not assume any responsibility for any physical, psychological, legal or any other consequences from the use of these substances.
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