Healing Through Gestalt
“I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped.” (Fritz Perls)
Welcome to my Healing Through Gestalt LLC - counseling and psychotherapy services.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia, Certified Gestalt Therapist and Clinical Supervisor, EMDR and Brainspotting therapist and consultant, Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Practicioner with over 20 years of experience.
My main specialties are trauma, anxiety, and depression.
The therapeutic modalities that I utilize in my practice and have extensive training are Gestalt-therapy, EMDR, Braispotting, and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy.
A short describtion of these approaches are below.
What is Gestalt Therapy?
Gestalt Therapy is a type of psychotherapy founded by Fritz Perls in 1940s. The German word Gestalt means “organized whole”. The central ideas of gestalt therapy are holistic approach, which means viewing the person's difficulties within his/her current environment, focus on the here and now, awareness, and taking personal responsibility for the choices in life.
Gestalt therapist works with a client on developing awareness of feelings, reactions, and thoughts in the present. When we are aware of what is happening, we are able to solve our own issues and bring positive changes in our lives. Awareness of one’s feelings is essential in recognizing one’s needs as they are the signals which help effectively manage the environments.
Gestalt therapist also helps the clients to identify, accept and value who they really are. According the paradoxical theory of change, people change when they become aware and accept what they are instead of trying to become someone else.
The goal of Gestalt Therapy is not only to overcome symptoms, but to become more creative in live, congruent and integrated persons through resolving inner conflicts and unfinished issues. Gestalt therapy supports the idea that everyone has a freedom to choose how to live. When we accept responsibility for our choices, we become in charge of our growth and self-support.
Gestalt therapy focuses on what is happening "here-and-now." It is more important to be in the present moment than focus on what happened in the past, might be, could be, or should be. Being here and now helps to stay grounded in the reality, and thus be more creative, make better choices in life.
The other important aspect of Gestalt therapy is the relationship between the therapist and the client. By exploring, understanding, and changing the relational patterns manifested in a therapeutic relationship, we can bring positive changes in our relationships with other people. Therapist and client develop a bond and attunement that promote healing.
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy approach developed by Francine Shapiro at the end of the 1980’s. EMDR therapy has been researched and proven as a highly effective treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other trauma related issues. This approach integrates many psychological theories and psychotherapeutic modalities. EMDR is also highly effective in treating anxiety, depression, phobias, addiction, OCD, low self-esteem, complicated grief, loss, etc. The EMDR Resource Model is applied at the beginning of the treatment to prepare an individual for trauma work, and it contains many useful techniques to develop coping strategies, positive inner resources, and resilience level.
By data posted on www.emdr.com, “The research studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions. Another study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. EMDR therapy is now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization, and the Department of Defense.”
The effectiveness of EMDR is based on the Adaptive Information Processing Model, which means that our brain has a natural tendency to move toward wholeness, health, and the capacity to heal itself. Memory plays a tremendous role in our functioning and learning processes. During some traumatic events, the brain becomes overwhelmed, and if a person does not have the necessary resources to process the trauma, the natural Adaptive Information Process in our brain becomes blocked, and memories are stored in a way that does not allow the brain to connect to the adaptive memory network. Traumatic memories that are stored in a dysfunctional way become frozen in time; thus, when triggered by stimuli in the present, they result in pathological responses to the situations that have little or no danger.
When there is a triggering stimulus of the area of the brain where the “frozen in time” memories, emotions, and body sensations are stuck, the individual begins reliving past trauma as if it were happening in the present. Meanwhile, the rational part of the brain has very little or no control of the brain; thus it becomes extremely difficult to control the impulses and provide more rational responses to the situation. EMDR helps to unfreeze these dysfunctional memories, desensitize strong negative emotions and body sensations associated with trauma, and restore the brain connection with an adaptive positive experience network to develop positive perspectives and adaptive beliefs.
What is Brainspotting?
Brainspotting is another brain based powerful approach that uses the body’s innate self-scanning and healing capacities to process and release core neurophysiologic sources of trauma and its physiological symptoms in the deep levels of the brain. The therapist helps a client to find a “Brainspot” which represents a specific eye position that leads to the brain area where the traumatic memories were stored and “got stuck.” Adding bilateral sounds or tones that enhance the brain’s ability to process trauma by integration of the right and left hemispheres of the brain, the therapist helps an individual to access the deep subconscious brain where the trauma got stuck in order to release the traumatic emotions and body sensations and to process the traumatic memories allowing a new perspective and healthy resolution. According to some researches, Brainspotting is shown to be even more effective than EMDR.
What is Psychedelic Assisted Therapy?
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy is a treatment of mental health issues with psychedelic substances such as ketamine, psilocybin, MDMA, LCD, ayahuasca, peyote etc. Psychedelic drugs are controlled substances in most countries and psychedelic therapy is not legally available outside clinical trials, with some exceptions. Ketamine therapy is the legalized psychedelic therapy in the USA that is available for treatment of depression, anxiety, and trauma. The psychedelic substances such as MDMA and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) in combination with psychedelic assisted therapy have shown incredible results and efficacy in clinical studies and are awaiting for FDA approval in the near future.
Psychedelic therapy is different from many other conventional therapies and the use of psychiatric medication. It’s done in a few stages and includes preparation, a few dosing sessions where client ingests the psychedelic substance under the supervision of a trained guide (usually 3 sessions are recommended) and integration. In the preparation stage which usually takes 4-5 hours, the therapist prepares the client for the experience sharing the information about the effects, process, benefits, risks, and working on setting intentions, discussing expectations, and answering any questions that may arise during the process and after. In the integration stage that takes place after and between each dosing session for about 3-5 weekly sessions, the therapist helps the client integrate insights from the experience, understand meanings, make sense, and apply the insights and changes into daily life. During the dosing session, after ingesting the substance, the client wear eyeshades and headphones and listens to the specifically designed music playlists that helps to facilitate the altered state of consciousness and inner healing intelligence which is the driving agent of the process. The therapist’s role during the dosing session is mostly to provide safety, reassurance, help to navigate any challenging experiences, and hold the space for the client. In clinical trials two therapists are present in the sessions.
Author: Maryana Harrelson, LPC, Gestalt, EMDR and Brainspotting Therapist, Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Practicioner.
