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..."IS YOUR WORK WITH CLIENTS FEELING FOCUSED?"

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..If so, what do you mean by this?"       Yes…My work is feeling focused. My understanding of feelings is derived from the works of Joseph LeDoux and Antonio Damasio; feelings are body signals that, when activated and made conscious, generate our emotions and behaviors.   These signals come from the brain’s subsystems and are primitive, non-visual responses to something that is happening in real time or they are memories of past experiences.   If the memories are painful, the signals cause negative emotions and we act them out in defensive behaviors: anger, anxiety, fear, freezing, etc.   Feeling work requires the activation of the sensorimotor content of the traumatic memory in a way that the client can consciously experience the feelings that normally go unfelt and unobserved.  

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..."DO YOU USE METHODS OTHER THAN THOSE OF PRIMAL THERAPY?"     In addition to using the primal tools that I learned during therapy at Arthur Janov’s Primal Center, my work is informed by the techniques of sensorimotor processing, soul retrieval, somatic experiencing, and pain body meditation.

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​..."ARE YOU A LICENSED THERAPIST?"      I am not a licensed therapist.   My training is an outgrowth of my own personal therapy, involvement in men’s groups, and days spent in self-contemplation during vision fasts, etc.   It also comes from over 15 years of working with clients. The extent of my formal, supervised training occurred while participating in a Canadian therapist training program that was 300 hours in duration. I am the International Primal Association's first CERTIFIED PRIMAL INTEGRATION EDUCATOR.   If you refer to my client testimonials, you will get a sense of the quality and safeness of my work.   I’ve worked with clients from 20 to 67 years old.   Those who have stayed with the work have found permanent relief from childhood sexual abuse , Obsessive-compulsive disorder, rape, and physical beatings.

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..."DO YOU HAVE A CONCEPT ABOUT WHICH WAY THE PROCESS SHOULD GO?"      Again, the process is directed by the client. Sometimes a client falls into a feeling and cries for an hour. I quietly hold the space while this is happening and encourage the expansion of the feeling.   I once had a client who had to get up and vomit 2 or 3 times a session.   I encouraged and supported his process. Etc.

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..."WHAT IS YOUR CONCEPT OF THE CLIENT/THERAPIST RELATIONSHIP?"      In men’s groups they speak of the “container” and the importance of men “holding the container” for other men who are engaged in their healing work.   This container is thought of as “sacred space”, because healing takes place there.   I find this practice very powerful and conduct my sessions this way.   Someone might come to me to find a safe way to do some healing work.   That client is the healer and, on some level, knows exactly where to go.   I am charged with holding that container.   Making sure that it remains safe there during the journey.   Then, I welcome the client back from the journey and listen quietly to their insights.

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..."WHAT IF THE PROCESS WITH THE CLIENT TRIGGERS FEELINGS IN YOU? WHAT DO YOU DO?"      This has happened to me. Usually it is while listening to stories of cruelty.   I can be moved to tears.   I let the tears flow.   I find that when the client sees my tears, it deepens their process.   I see this as an energetic connection that is healthy.

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..."IS THERE A CERTAIN LAYER YOU FEEL MOST COMFORTABLE WORKING WITH?   THAT YOU FEEL IS INDISPENSABLE FOR GROWTH AND HEALTH?"      I am in agreement with Janov that the deepest, most lasting healing comes out of work on the first line of consciousness.   Most of my personal healing work was done on that level.   This allowed me to study the process in a deeply personal way.   I understand sensorimotor processing as being work on the first line.   And, I provide a gentle, constant pressure in that direction.

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