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Practicing for nearly twenty years, I am a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist which means I have specific training in relationship configurations of all types: cardinal, familial and platonic. I received my education from the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco, California with a focus in Somatic Psychotherapy. There I had a full time private practice for several years before moving inland to Denver, Colorado in 2018. I hold licenses in both states.
The focus of my continued education and training is Somatic Psychotherapy, which means I value the significance of the physical and energetic body and its connection to our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationship to self and others. As a long time yoga and meditation practitioner, I am a huge proponent of health and wellness in body and mind which can also include one's sense of spirit and the transpersonal. I first became interested in this connection while spending hours teaching yoga and observing bodies in my early 20's. I came to learn that therapeutic modalities that include the soma are especially suited for those who have experienced various forms of repeated trauma, large or small. As a client and a therapist, I know that healing also happens in the therapeutic alliance we create. Therefore, building a trusting connection with my clients based on mutual respect is important to me. |
I have also pursued advanced education in working with couples to increase intimacy and create authentic connection with experts like Esther Perel, Terry Real and Dr Tammy Nelson. Additionally, I teach at local universities, offer consultations to other therapists and coaches, and supervise counseling interns seeking licensure.
This is what I look and sound like when invited onto a Podcast that I originally thought was going to be Audio only.
Ha! At least it's authentically Vanessa, per usual. ; )
Ha! At least it's authentically Vanessa, per usual. ; )
MY APPROACH
With big heart and authentic guidance, together we create the space for your change process to unfold.
We are more than our thoughts. We exist in layers. Therefore, I have found it most effective to explore the whole person - physiologically, behaviorally, cognitively, and transpersonally - before we can decide where we're going. When we explore and include all of us, we find the beginning of how you came to be, then inquire where to repair in order to pave where you'd like to go.
Sometimes I use breathing techniques, movement, co-regulating touch and table work. In my experience, when including the body (soma) in the present moment, self-awareness develops, regulation is experienced and truths are often revealed more readily than just via our verbal mind. Where talk therapy can sometimes only get us so far, my approach attempts to repair the preverbal, the wiring in the brain and nervous system that didn't get to develop to their fullest potential early on.
In my experience, an optimal life is about evolving out of dissatisfying "ways of being" and adapting to different behaviors and postures that feel better. Often times, these maladaptive ways of being get wired internally within our first five years of life. With my intuitive touch and guidance and your increased mindfulness and self-awareness, choices appear when in the past we might have felt a victim to life, our emotions, and/or relationships.
MY TRAINING
My training has focused on Somatic (Body-Oriented) Psychotherapy and I am influenced by my 25+ years as a Yoga Instructor and Practitioner, iRest® Yoga Nidra, Mindfulness practices, Transpersonal experiences, Laws of Attraction, Co-Regulating Touch Somatic Practice with Kathy Kain and Stephen J. Terrell, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Strength Based Therapy, Humanistic Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Gestalt, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
I've worked at a variety of settings including:
Education, Certifications and Professional Memberships
With big heart and authentic guidance, together we create the space for your change process to unfold.
We are more than our thoughts. We exist in layers. Therefore, I have found it most effective to explore the whole person - physiologically, behaviorally, cognitively, and transpersonally - before we can decide where we're going. When we explore and include all of us, we find the beginning of how you came to be, then inquire where to repair in order to pave where you'd like to go.
Sometimes I use breathing techniques, movement, co-regulating touch and table work. In my experience, when including the body (soma) in the present moment, self-awareness develops, regulation is experienced and truths are often revealed more readily than just via our verbal mind. Where talk therapy can sometimes only get us so far, my approach attempts to repair the preverbal, the wiring in the brain and nervous system that didn't get to develop to their fullest potential early on.
In my experience, an optimal life is about evolving out of dissatisfying "ways of being" and adapting to different behaviors and postures that feel better. Often times, these maladaptive ways of being get wired internally within our first five years of life. With my intuitive touch and guidance and your increased mindfulness and self-awareness, choices appear when in the past we might have felt a victim to life, our emotions, and/or relationships.
MY TRAINING
My training has focused on Somatic (Body-Oriented) Psychotherapy and I am influenced by my 25+ years as a Yoga Instructor and Practitioner, iRest® Yoga Nidra, Mindfulness practices, Transpersonal experiences, Laws of Attraction, Co-Regulating Touch Somatic Practice with Kathy Kain and Stephen J. Terrell, Hakomi, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Strength Based Therapy, Humanistic Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Gestalt, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
I've worked at a variety of settings including:
- Naropa University, Boulder, CO
- Regis University, Denver, CO
- University of Colorado, Denver, CO
- Chanda Center for Wellness, Lakewood, CO
- Private Practice San Francisco, CA and Denver, CO
- California Institute for Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA
- Womens Recovery Association, Burlingame, CA
- California Counseling Institute, San Francisco, CA
- The Center for Somatic Psychotherapy, San Francisco, CA
- The Addiction Technology Transfer Center, Kansas City, MO
- Greenpath Yoga, San Francisco, CA
- The Mindful Body, San Francisco, CA
- Alvarado Elementary School, San Francisco, CA
- Talk Line, San Francisco, CA
- Kid's Turn, San Francisco, CA
- Maya Yoga, Kansas City, MO
- Accessible Arts, Kansas City, MO
- Evanston YMCA Battered Women's Shelter, Evanston, IL
- Unity Spiritual Center, Evanston IL & Kansas City, MO
Education, Certifications and Professional Memberships
- Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Colorado #1479
- Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in California #48163
- American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists Approved Supervisor
- Member United States Association for Body Psychotherapy USABP
- Releasing the Body from the Bonds of Trauma: A Somatic Approach to Healing Abandonment Issues and Attachment Wounds with Peter Levine
- Working with the Emotional Roots of Physical Pain with Peter Levine
- Integrative Sex and Couples Certification Training with Tammy Nelson
- Mindful Communication/Nonviolent Communication
- Treating Trauma Master Series with the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine
- Couples Therapy: Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy
- The Somatics of Common Complex Emotions (Kathy L. Kain & Tony Richardson)
- The Somatics of Emotions (Kathy L. Kain & Tony Richardson)
- Touch Skills for Trauma Therapists (Kathy Kain, Somatic Experiencing)
- Somatic Resilience and Regulation (Kathy Kain & Stephen Terrell, Somatic Experiencing)
- American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists Clinical Fellow
- California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists
- International Association of Yoga Therapists
- Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher
- California Institute for Integral Studies, San Francisco: MA Somatic Psychotherapy
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: BA Dual Major Political Science and Communications
- iRest® Yoga Nidra Level I
- World School of Massage 200 Hour Certification
Photo from Claricethebakergardener
