Encountering and working with the many voices of the psyche.

By hearing the many different parts of ourselves express, we can find clarity and deeper understanding of ourselves and our inner motivations. We all have many different parts, or voices, within us. The common feeling of being in two minds about something can be parts of ourselves with different needs, wanting to be heard. Voice dialogue opens a doorway for the discovery of these different parts and an understanding of how they work together, and how they can work in conflict with one another. Exploring this amazing system of selves enables us to live more honestly, authentically and with greater choice and freedom.

A safe way to work with unresolved issues and emotions

Work stress, relationship difficulties, juggling the many pressures of parenting, unexpected events… all may trigger feelings that can overwhelm us emotionally. Emotional processing offers a way to feel these feelings fully in a safe, supported place, and to resolve them. This also involves tracing these triggers back to the seed of where they come from in our past to allow healing to occur. If you are finding yourself often having strong reactions to situations there can be a common link between them, leading back to an earlier event that may or may not be known to the conscious mind.

Exploring the inner world and the transpersonal level of the psyche.

These are powerful processes accessing both conscious and unconscious material for healing. Sandplay is a form of hands on psychological therapy based on the premise that the psyche has a natural tendency for self-healing. In a protected and supported space, a person’s internal symbolic world is provided a place to express. This can involve the emergence of personal and archetypal symbols, sometimes preverbal or unknown to the conscious mind. It allows the psyche’s instinctual wisdom to emerge and for the person to move towards greater balance and wholeness.

Discovering your own meaning of dreams and the messages they hold for you.

This way of working with dreams does not come with prescriptive meanings for the symbols in a dream. Instead dreams are looked at from the perspective that everything in a dream is part of the dreamer. In this way we come into contact with unconscious elements of ourselves that may be completely unknown to the conscious self. Each dream and each symbol in a dream is unique to the individual dreamer.

Re-stablishing connection to the body and feelings

Past trauma, positive experiences and negative ones, all are stored in the body. This is in part due the fact that the same part of the brain that processes our senses is responsible for some of the storing of strong emotional memories. Trauma is stored in the physical body because at the time of the traumatic incident the brain cannot process the overwhelming shock of the incident, and so instead stores it in the muscles, organs and connective tissue. Body focus can assist with becoming more present to the body and aware of feelings and sensations. It can sometimes assist in recall of the sensations and emotions of traumatic events and can act as a way to resolve and release them.

A powerful way to integrate processes and record your personal growth

The exploration of our inner world includes levels we are aware of and those we are not aware of. Art is used in this context to record feelings and thoughts, whether conscious or unconscious, without any expectation of needing to create a finished artwork of any standard. Simply putting colour or form on paper, or pasting pictures that feel right in the moment to create a collage, is enough to create something that can assist healing or record personal growth.

Journalling acts as a record of the journey of self-exploration and a non-judgmental place to express thoughts and feelings. Expressing strong feelings in a journal or art diary can allow stress, anxiety, anger, frustration or grief to have a voice right in the present moment when needed most.