My Journey in Body Oriented Psychotherapy
“Physician, heal yourself.” (Luke 4:23)
You know, I follow one principle when working with clients which is: “You have no right to help someone else if You have not healed Yourself first!” And this remains the Law in My practice!
To tell the truth my acquaintance with body-centered psychotherapy did not start with a mainstream interest in psychology as is very common nowadays.
When I was 17, I was always ill period. Seeking out numerous doctors and listening to their medical opinions it seemed to me I had every illness out there, they were flabbergasted and unable to provide me with a clear path towards well-being and understandingly I grew increasingly frustrated and depressed. To make matters worse my diagnoses would change every two days, as my hormones were insanely unstable, and so the doctors were lost as to what to do next. But internal feeling spurred me on during my lowest point and I made the conscious decision to stop feeling like a victim and attempt to find a way to heal myself as modern medicine had no answers for me.
You can’t imagine what I felt as a teenager when my legs would suddenly physically fail in the middle of a walk, yet it became all too common of an occurrence and become routine for my parents to deal with. The constant physical pain I encountered daily challenged me to gain the ability to abstract myself from the tremendous discomfort that I lived with. It was unbearable to continue to live like this but My internal voice forced me to seek other methods of relieving the stresses off my broken body and through perseverance and discipline I taught myself to understand the roots of my pain and promptly apply healing to Myself .
It was during these formative years that life taught me to be attentive to My body and MY emotions, as I fell in love with this process of healing- forever. And if I can do this to myself then surely I could and should help others !
It took me 3 years to fully comprehend the connection between emotions and the physical Body. In those 3 years I seemed to have learned to control and regulate the processes within Myself.
After 8 years of practicum with clients and by the time I turned 26, the causality of Emotions and the Body is something obvious to me, and the temporary illnesses that arise in us due to a specific situation is indeed a natural occurring process which can be treated. Backed by hard research of modern science I understood more and more the connections of emotions associated with our physical well being Yet initially back then in my naïve teenage years, it all seemed like woo woo – fru fru magic to heal your sick body and soul.
More than 8 years ago, I discovered the Polynesian technique called LOMILOMI, used by Hawaiian shamans to heal the physical body. I was taught to “See” not using my eyes, but specifically my hands and I learned that: wherever you focus your attention (through my hands) – that’s where the healing energy will flow, meaning every person’s body to me became a mini shrine , a place for me to project my love and positivity through touch.
Having achieved numerous Qualifications and Certificates in the study of the Body and Mind, and subsequently working with suffering clients directly while seeing tremendous results, only solidified my belief that this knowledge of healing has always been available and within Myself from an early age, as well as the internal deep understanding and acceptance of how to heal the ailing Body and Mind. My thirst for further knowledge by studying various bodily and breathing techniques of different cultures only fueled my desire to help and educate others, and being the one to help Others is what feels like the right path in life!
Completing a Master’s Degree in Philosophy has helped me formulate a worthy theoretical base against the background of heavy research into the phenomenon of the body and its traditions in different cultures of the world. My education was a theoretical parallel to the practical aspect that I have been applying every day since I was 18 years old.
And thus the phenomenon of the Body in psychotherapy has always had two directions: theoretical, and practical-experimental. In my own practice I’ve never had clients with simple queries or problems yet I remember every single experience, each client’s body was remembered like road map specific to their life. I am amazed at every story and results of each of my clients, and I continue to be amazed and enthralled by each session, a precious process that feels to me as if I am living it for the first and last time. There IS an element of seeming magic in this process, and it’s through my physical touch in the practice, and to me there is a small part of the Universe that is felt when I lay my hands on You. It is my belief that — everything begins and ends within the Man, His sickness and His healing! And I am humbled and have an endless respect for it.
I hope to be a part of Your story and be Your guide on Your journey to well-being!