We are so much more than just our thoughts that is why I choose to bring in practices and "techniques" that involve the body and emotions directly.

-Standard talk therapy,-Psycho-education, Cognitive behavioral restructuring: noticing how negative thoughts lead to emotional imbalance and challenging the thought process. Behavioral modification: practicing new behaviors first so that emotional balance will follow.

-Yoga Psychology: using the many benefits of yoga to heal the body and spirit. Practices used are breathing techniques, physical postures, meditation exercises, mantras, sounds/chanting, chakra balancing and correcting body misalignment. We look at symptoms in the body such as anxiety or lower back pain and relate them to an imbalance in the chakras (energy centers in the body which run along the spine). A personal "yoga prescription" is created to restore balance. This could be a combination of yoga postures that will release emotions and/or specifically address a physical body pain, breathing practices, visual imagery in conjunction with meditation, chanting mantras (Sanskrit prayers), or making specific sounds to restore the energetic frequency in the body.

-Body-centered therapy: noticing your body's signals in the present moment in effort to gain awareness of the triggers that cause reactivity and separateness. Most people feel like they just react to whatever life puts in front of them. They don't run their life; their life runs them! This type of work helps you focus inward and allows you to explore emotions, thoughts and "stuck" places in a less defensive way. Using mindfulness practices you begin to observe yourself having the feeling and also supporting yourself as you move through the feeling.

Learning what triggers you to feel off center and understanding how much the body is involved in managing outside stimuli is a key piece in feeling more in control of your world. Small "experiments" are used such as sitting with your eyes closed and turning your awareness inward to notice body sensations or mental images associated with certain triggers or experiences that have been known to throw you off center. We talk to the body and use the sometimes subtle, but mostly blatant signals to direct personal healing. This helps a person get accustomed to hearing and trusting their intuition.

-Internal Family Systems: getting to know the different "parts" of your personality and how these parts affect you. Think of a time where "one part" of you wanted to quit your job or leave a relationship or wanted a certain food, and "another part" wasn't sure and you were left feeling indecisive. Those are the "parts" of your personality that drive your behavior and your thoughts. Often we merge with a particularly strong personality "part" and we get stuck there. It might be feeling stuck in fear of anger. This type of work is designed to help you identify your "parts" so you get to know yourself better and not feel so out of control or reactive. Guided imagery and mindfulness awareness is the way to access these "parts".

-Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy: one-on-one yoga session where client is held in specific yoga postures for an extended amount of time in effort to release emotion and gain internal wisdom. Yoga postures were created by ancient sages/yogis to help the body become stronger and also relax in order to hold the rising energy created through meditation. PRYT is based on this belief and expands the use of postures with the knowledge that certain postures hold metaphysical (mind-body-spirit) aspects which when practiced will bring the client closer to their heart and more trusting of themselves.

A typical session: the client checks in through verbally sharing their current state, then quieting the mind and listening to their body at the present moment, to determine the direction of the session. As they are talking I am noting signals of imbalance and strengths and connecting that information with postures which will directly address the "issues". A client might have an emotional issue or a physical stressor that the postures can help heal. If a person feels doubtful or fearful we would use postures that are grounding and heart opening, like Childs Pose, Thread the Needle, Fish, Forward bend; these would increase the feeling of strength and stability through a body connection with the ground but would also 'stretch' them in a way that allows the anxiety to dissipate and their heart to open and feel compassion for themselves. The typical dialogue in a therapy session is not appropriate for this level of processing. Instead the practitioner will ask the client "What's happening now?" so the client can continue the present minded awareness. These findings are shared out loud and often the practitioner will ask the client to expand on the idea so the client can deepen their internal awareness.

After a session, most people feel more relaxed, centered, trusting and accepting of themselves and others. This work also brings up hidden or stuck emotions which can leave a person feeling unsettled, but supported in their process. People that have an understanding of mind-body-emotion connection would benefit greatly from this type of body work.