The Approach
I work with Process-Oriented Work, developed by Arnold Mindell, and the UnShaming method, developed by David Bedrick.
Both approaches invite us to become curious about what is happening rather than immediately trying to fix, change or get rid of it.
You don’t need to understand the methods before you begin. You don’t even need to arrive with a clearly defined problem.
What is Process-Oriented Work?
The word process refers to what is unfolding (happening in the moment).
Rather than immediately analysing the situation or deciding what you should do, we explore what is actually happening.
- Exploring what this experience is.
- Noticing the signals and following them
- Noticing what happens for you and between us as we explore
The facilitator’s role is not to tell you what your experience
means.
Instead, I help you notice what is happening and explore it with
curiosity.
The work is not about forcing an experience towards a predetermined outcome. It is about following the process and seeing where it leads.
What is Somatic Work?
- We explore the sensations, feelings, sound, movement, expression and more.
The body is a source of intelligence.
“I freeze”
What's your body's expression in the freeze?
What does freeze want you to see?
You’ll be surprised to see the movement, sound or expression that might be within your freeze. By exploration the body’s intelligence in the freeze, and owning it, the freeze begins to move.
What is UnShaming?
Perhaps you feel that you are too sensitive, too angry, too needy, too emotional, too quiet, too broken, too much, not enough, too dramatic, not attractive enough, not successful enough, not productive enough, or simply not doing life “right.”
You wonder why am I like this or I should be further along by now.
- Maybe you learned that expressing anger, disgust, tears, despair or hatred was unacceptable.
- Maybe you learned that you should be strong, and feeling is a sign of weakness.
- Maybe you were praised for being easy, nice and accommodating.
- Maybe you were criticised for your body, or your sensitivity.
Over time, these external messages can become an internal shaming voice.
UnShaming invites us to become curious about the things we have learned to reject in ourselves.
What you keep pushing away may have something to tell you.
UnShaming can help unfold the intelligence that may not always be
available through conscious thinking alone.
Shame hides.
UnShaming uncovers and embraces what shame wanted to hide.
From fixing yourself to being yourself
Many of us spend a huge amount of energy trying to improve ourselves. We try to become calmer, more confident, more productive, less anxious, less reactive or more successful.
Instead of asking
“How do I get rid of this?”
We ask
- “What is this?”
- “What does it know?”
- “What part of me has been trying to emerge through this?”
- “How can I become more of this?”
“I’m broken”
You can try to hide your wound, but it'll bleed through.
This approach may not help with ‘fixing’ the wound — but when the wound, come through, they become me, and I become them.
United with the wound.
Its power is yours to own.
What happens in a session?
A session might begin with what you’d like to bring to the session. From there, I follow what emerges. The process is fluid and responsive. There's no single script. I may ask questions, offer suggestions, or invite you to explore something. You may be invited to move, make sounds, or express yourself in different ways. I pay attention to both what you say and what your body is expressing. The session is a collaborative exploration of your experience. I follow your body and psyche's signals, instead of coming with a predetermined plan or agenda.
You remain an active participant throughout as you talk, sense into your body, imagine, move, make sounds, explore different layers of the experience or relationship or try out a different thing.
I'm here to create a safe space for you and I bring witnessing, skills and knowledge of the process. You bring your own experience. Together, we explore what is happening and what it means for you.
The intention is not to give you an answer or tell you who you should be. It is to help you discover what wants to be expressed — including the parts of yourself that may have been hidden, rejected or shamed — and find its intelligence, own its power and become more of who you are.