Therapeutic
Modalities

Soul Centred Psychotherapy

Soul Centred Psychotherapy is a therapeutic approach that was developed at The Kairos Centre in 1992. It focuses on relationship, mindfulness, lived experience, meaning, honouring, enchantment, and the sacred.

Relationship is understood as a living thing, a 'third body' that forms between two people. Soul Centred Psychotherapy also attends to our relationship with ourselves - working to develop a more vital and aware relationship between our everyday sense of self and the other layers of consciousness that we usually call the unconscious. By attending to this inner relationship, we gain insight into the internal dynamics that determine our thoughts, moods and behaviours.

The therapy process itself also involves a relationship between therapist and client. This therapeutic relationship may involve the therapist as guide, as teacher, as support person, as healer, as fellow traveller.

Mindfulness is a state of being fully present in the moment with attention available for whatever is happening. Soul Centred Psychotherapists use mindfulness practices to develop their capacity for therapeutic attention, so they can be fully present in the therapy process. Mindfulness is also used as a healing practice in the therapeutic work.

Lived, embodied experience is authentic, connected, and immediate. Soul Centred Psychotherapy works to evoke authentic, embodied experience to support connections between mind and body, thoughts and feelings, memories and current life events. It is the difference between talking about something that happened yesterday and stepping back inside the experience with all the sights, sounds, smells, body feelings and emotions.

Meaning in Soul Centred Psychotherapy involves a sense of value and importance that is subjective rather than objective or collective. The central question is 'what does this mean to you?' So that rather than ideas of 'wrong-doing' and 'right-doing' we are working with each person's deepest value and meaning.

This is closely related to the idea of honouring whatever emerges in a therapy session. This can take the form of drawing or painting an image, sculpting a form in clay, writing in a journal or moving to music. This creative expression of the inner material that comes into awareness (as images, symbols, memories, sensations or sounds) is a way of valuing its importance and developing ongoing relationship with soul.

Enchantment is a spell that comes over us, an aura of fantasy and emotion that can settle on the heart' (Thomas Moore: The Reenchantment of Everyday Life). This involves a sense of mystery in which we find value, love and union with the world around us by attending to the rhythms and cycles of nature, the moon, the seasons, and our own mind-body systems.

The idea of the sacred follows from meaning, honouring, and enchantment. This is similar to Jung's idea of the Self as the central organising principle of the psyche, as well as the idea of the anima mundi or world soul.

In Soul Centred Psychotherapy some of the great myths that have informed humanity are studied and brought present in the form of story, images, and enactment. This can take the form of rituals that develop spontaneously in a session or are planned over several sessions.

Soul Centred psychotherapy works to develop a more conscious, manageable and creative relationship with the internal processes that have blocked people's most intense, profound, and honest relation to life. It also works to develop a rich appreciation of the soul's reality and to nurture its depth and genius.

Soul Centred Psychotherapy attends to the human experience through the everyday stuff of life: our thoughts, emotions, body sensations and symptoms, and the relationships we have with others and the world. Value, meaning, and healing emerge from within each person's unique process of inner work rather than from any external ideal of health, wealth, or happiness. In this sense, therapy is not about fixing something that is broken, but about attending to the rich language of soul as it manifests in our day to day lives.

Read below for a more detailed explanation of the therapeutic modalities involved in Soul Centred Psychotherapy.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Parts of our bodies naturally tense up in response to stress, anxiety, fear or pain. Common areas are shoulders, jaw, hands or abdomen. If the tension happens often or is severe, the muscles lock up and cause pain or other symptoms. Practising the technique of Progressive Muscle Relaxation releases the muscles, the body and the mind.

This is done by taking your attention to each muscle group in turn and either resting your awareness there for a few minutes, or tensing the muscle and then releasing it and noticing the difference. This results in the tension melting away, and being replaced by a calm and relaxed state. Progressive muscle relaxation is also a helpful tool for trauma, grief, addictions or sleep difficulties.

Focusing

Focusing is a process of deep inner attention to the felt sense in the body. With each response to a life situation, there is a thought, feeling and a body sense. Often our bodies carry hurts, wounds, resentments, fears, grief, anger, experiences or memories that have become stuck. This can leave the body becoming blocked, carrying stress and trauma.

Through the process of Focusing the innate wisdom of the mind-body system gently unravels the blockage, often bringing words, images, movements or knowings. By following this process and using the body's natural rhythm, it is possible to overcome many difficulties in our lives and bring a new perspective beyond thoughts and feelings.

Focusing may be helpful for anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, stress, trauma, grief, anger, addictions, low self-esteem or life transitions.

Hypnotherapy

Being in a state of trance is a common occurrence in everyday life. Some examples are being deeply involved in a movie or a book and not noticing anything else around you; daydreaming or dancing. Hypnotherapy is simply the use of trance for therapeutic purposes.

Hypnotherapy involves being in a pleasant relaxed state where a deeper part of the mind is more receptive to direct change. New ways may be found for undesirable patterns and habits, as well as accessing positive states and creativity. Hypnotherapy may be helpful for anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, grief, anger, addictions, low self-esteem or life transitions.

This modality is also great for developing a new or enhancing an existing positive resource, capacity or skill such as playing a musical instrument or improving sports performance.

Art and Expressive Therapy

When we use language, we are using one part of our mind. Sometimes memories, feelings or body sensations are difficult to express with words. In this case they may be easier expressed using imagery, movement or sounds. Imagery includes drawing, painting or sculpting with clay. Movements may involve following your body's urge to move in a certain way in response to your issue, allowing a process to unfold. Sometimes, a sound is what is being called for to facilitate expression.

These processes allow access to your issues in a different way than using language. Such expression facilitates understanding, healing and growth.

Art and Expressive Therapy may be helpful with depression, relationship difficulties, stress, trauma, grief, anger, addictions, low self-esteem, difficult decisions or life transitions. This modality is also great for developing a new or enhancing an existing positive resource, capacity or skill.

Soul Collage

SoulCollage® is a creative and satisfying collage process. You make your own deck of cards—each collage card representing one aspect of your personality or Soul. Use the cards intuitively to answer life's questions and participate in self-discovery. Joyfully deepen your understanding of the relationships between your personality parts, you and your family/community/world, and you and your dreams, symbols, and Spirit.

SoulCollage® may be helpful with depression, relationship difficulties, stress, trauma, anger, addictions, low self-esteem, difficult decisions or life transitions. This modality is also great for developing a new or enhancing an existing positive resource, capacity or skill for example the creative part of you that always wanted to draw or sing.

SoulCollage® may be done one-on-one with me or in a group. I offer monthly 2.5 hour group workshops.

Empty Chair or Letter Writing

When there is conflict or unresolved issues with another person or situation, there is often tension, stress, or avoidance of the person or the situation. Rather than just talking about it, you are invited to participate in a process where the person or thing is imagined to be present in a chair in the therapy room. You then proceed to talk to this difficulty.

This process gets you in touch with the feelings and deeper things that are going on in your mind and body outside your awareness. This results in more understanding, clarity and resolve with the conflict and where new solutions and ways to move forward emerge.

Sometimes the feelings in relation to your issue are very intense or the idea of talking to an empty chair is too intimidating. In this case a less intense version of this modality is to write a letter to the person or thing in difficulty. This may be done privately without sharing with the therapist, however still very effective in unblocking stuck emotions. The letter does not need to be sent to the person in question, it is for your own therapeutic purposes.

Empty Chair or Letter Writing may be helpful with relationship difficulties or loss and grief.

Chakra Healing

The Chakra system originated in the ancient traditions of the East. Basically, there are 7 main energy centres located along the central line of our bodies from the base of the spine to the top of the head. These energy centres - chakras are spinning wheels of activity that receive, assimilates and express our life force energy. They are involved in our physical, mental, and emotional functions. The chakras are constantly rotating and vibrating. When a chakra is blocked or wide open and the energy does not flow harmoniously, this will result in imbalance that is manifested in all areas of life.

Chakra Healing is based on mind-body healing that makes the premise that illness or disease is due to a disruption or blockage in the body’s energy system. Treatment includes systematically clearing undesirable beliefs and patterns from each chakra, followed by rebalancing and installation of a desirable belief. This modality incorporates muscle testing or kinesiology to eliminate deeper blockages outside conscious awareness in relation to the issue.

Chakra Healing may be helpful for a myriad of conditions such as depression, stress, trauma, anger or low self-esteem.

Myth, Metaphor & Story

Metaphor is a form of symbolic language that has been used for centuries as a method of expression or teaching in many fields. Traditional stories, literature, poetry and fairy tales all make use of metaphor to convey an idea in an indirect way that speaks to us on a deep level. Similarly, metaphor, myth and story can carry a significant meaning in a therapeutic setting. Whether, it is identifying with a classic or modern story, or constructing your own personal myth. A personal myth may also consist of symbolic imagery and metaphor having cross cultural similarity to classic mythology, fairy tales or modern novels and movies. It could include classic characters and archetypes as an expression of universal human tendencies and experiences. A myth or story is able to express contradictions that are difficult for the conscious mind to hold.

Working with mythic imagery in a therapeutic context can help move toward integration of difficult unconscious material. When a mythic image or character has relevance, there is an innate knowing or identification with it in the psyche beyond logical thought. Through a process called Active Imagination, personal imagery and mythic symbolism is able to be accessed and engaged with. Active Imagination is a meditative, dream like process, where facilitated by the therapist, you engage and dialogue with your own emerging mythic symbols. Through this process, a mythic narrative may grow that has immediate relevance to your psychological state.

By engaging in this way, you are building a relationship with your own unconscious contents, sometimes denied or lost aspects of self, thus growing in self awareness and wholeness. This sheds light on perceptions, expectations and conflicts, as well as inspires hope, strength and resilience. Exploring metaphor, myth and story whether classical, traditional, modern or personal, may be beneficial in developing a sense of control and personal growth. This may be helpful for depression, low self esteem, difficult decisions or life transitions. Engaging with myth is also great for developing a new or enhancing an existing positive resource, capacity or skill, for example the creative part of you that always wanted to dance or sing.