“Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.”
– Richard Hooker (Anglican theologian)
The long-term psychotherapy and counseling services I provide involve a variety of methods, each of which is designed to help clients explore who they are, the meaning of life, and their purpose in it.
Unlike shorter-term, solution-focused counseling, long-term therapy is not focused solely on resolving one symptom or problem as quickly as possible. This is not to say in-depth psychotherapy is any easier or less intensive than the shorter-term variety.
This type of depth psychotherapy and counseling is a continuous process that occurs for as long as the client benefits from the work we do together.
Who can benefit from long-term psychotherapy? Just about anyone who wishes to explore their mental, emotional, and spiritual life, increase their self-understanding, and live a life full of meaning and purpose.
The ongoing psychotherapy work I do with clients involves Jungian-oriented depth work, psychospirituality, dreamwork, and other techniques.
While I discuss some of these methods – and how they can help – below, the important thing to keep in mind is that the work we do together is focused on your needs and desires, not the techniques I employ.
I will use those forms of psychotherapy that are most comfortable for you and most appropriate to your specific situation and goals.
If you feel held back by “invisible” forces that keep you from living up to your full potential; if you repeatedly face the same roadblocks along life’s path preventing you from experiencing the richness of life; if you are interested in exploring your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, perceptions, ideals, and dreams to discover more about yourself and your purpose in life; please don’t hesitate to give me a call and find out how longer-term counseling and therapy can help! I can be reached by phone at 510-486-1188 or by e-mail at karenrosemft@rose-counseling.com.
Reaching Your True Potential and Connecting with Your Higher Self: Psychospirituality – Self-Actualizing the Divine Within
“Angels are the powers hidden in the faculties and organs of man.”
– Ibn El-Arabi
At one time or another, we all experience stumbling blocks in our lives.
These obstacles can be mental, emotional, or spiritual in nature, and can prevent us from living the life we want to create, as surely as a locked door for which we have no key will keep us from entering a room in our home.
These “roadblocks” can arise due to mistaken assumptions or beliefs, misdirected desires, unresolved emotions, unproductive habits, and unbalanced lifestyles. If not dealt with effectively, these obstacles can lead to feelings of ambivalence and to detours on our path to a spiritually rewarding life.
Other blocks to a spiritually fulfilling life arise from suppressed or repressed issues that hinder our ability to trust in a benevolent principle governing the universe and guiding our progress. These can lead to a negative view of oneself and the self-perception of being a helpless victim of fate, doomed to struggle against insurmountable odds.
Psychospirituality is a specific form of long-term depth therapy that allows people to appreciate and tap into our inherent potential as individuals and spiritual beings.
Once we learn to recognize and appreciate our potential for growth – and integrate practices encouraging this growth into our daily lives – the apathy, fear, anxiety, and confusion that deter and deflect us from living a purposeful life can be removed and we can experience the wonder of existence as well as its infinite rewards and blessings.
Integrating Ancient Wisdom & Modern Knowledge – Overcoming Life’s Roadblocks Through Acceptance & Appreciation
The aim of psychospiritual education, mentoring, and coaching is to identify and overcome these blocks to growth by integrating ancient wisdom and modern knowledge.
The world’s numerous spiritual traditions and contemporary integrative disciplines provide a wide variety of means to assist individuals in making the transitions that lie beyond mere social adaptation and material success.
The psychospiritual work I do helps clients bring unconscious thoughts, emotions, behaviors and beliefs into the light of consciousness where they can be dealt with intentionally. Once these blocks are made conscious and dealt with intentionally, they can be removed and clients can move forward toward self-actualization and create a life full of purpose and meaning.
Psychospiritual counseling also helps individuals appreciate and work with the full potential of the human ego and spirit, allowing one to bond with one’s higher self and the nature of the divine in all of us.
The stages involved in a psychospiritual process of self-learning and self-actualization include:
- Awareness – The psychospiritual process begins with honesty, openness, and a willingness to observe without judgment your feelings, assumptions, beliefs, values, thought patterns, habits, and behaviors. This involves working on hidden assumptions and reactive patterns that create obstacles to conscious and intentional self-management.
- Responsibility – Once some level of awareness has been achieved, you will then become capable of self-management. This involves taking responsibility for your own learning and growth, as well as acquiring the ability to intentionally direct your life through deliberation, choice, and purposeful action. It is here that you enter the domain of freedom of choice instead of reacting unconsciously to internal and external stimuli. In short, you learn to become more consciously purposeful.
- Appreciation – After acquiring certain self-management skills and a sense of purpose, the next step is to learn to integrate models of forgiveness. This will help you successfully cope with pain and suffering, rather than internalize pain and suffering through guilt and shame or externalize them through blame and attack. The result is a greater appreciation of your inherent self-worth as a spiritual being, which you’ll express socially as greater empathy and compassion.
- Self-Transcendence – As you acquire self-awareness, self-responsibility, and self-compassion, you’ll become more prepared for authentic self-transcendence. You’ll learn to access your “higher self” through the cultivation of intuition, and achieve a successful balance of your mental, emotional, and spiritual natures.
In short, psychospirituality can help you become more authentic, more loving, and more accepting of the blocks which are part and parcel of the lessons of life in the everyday world. Psychospirituality can help you get in touch with that which is already within you!
For more information on psychospirituality, please feel free to contact me at 510-486-1188 or karenrosemft@rose-counseling.com.
Jungian Depth Psychology – Understand Your Self, Heal Past Wounds, & Move Confidently Into The Future
“The only thing man cannot really stand is a life without meaning.”
– C. G. Jung
No one moves through life unscathed. All of us have wounds.
And we all create defenses – consciously and subconsciously – to protect us from getting hurt in the future.
Unfortunately, the defenses that have protected you from the pain of previous injuries, neglect, abuse, or lack of fulfillment, may also bar you from the healing re-discoveries necessary to resolve past conflicts and live life more fully.
Without someone to accompany you on the healing journey, the difficult path of re-living and resolving past traumas can be overwhelming, if not impossible.
If you’re looking to heal old wounds and live a freer, more rewarding life, the Jungian depth work provided by an experienced, licensed professional can help you achieve your goals and live the life you’ve been dreaming of.
An In-Depth Look At Depth Psychology
Depth psychology is a term used to describe any psychological approach that explores the hidden or deeper parts of human experience.
It is a broad term, and can include therapeutic approaches that look at interpersonal dynamics and the development of patterns of behavior.
Depth psychology also refers to therapy techniques rooted in the work of C. G. Jung, a 20th century Swiss psychiatrist.
Jung developed a broad theory of how individuals and personalities develop, as well as how the psyche functions. His theory is grounded in an archetypal approach and posits that all of our experiences stem from collective patterns which inform experience.
Jung’s work has been extended by contemporary practitioners and thinkers, and many people today find Jungian psychology coherently explains life experiences, offers a path for individuation – developing uniquely into who one is, in essence – and offers room for the mystery and creativity of life.
Jungian psychology includes the experience of the sacred, of mystery, and of the ineffable. It is an approach that is at home with myth and symbol, with the religious and spiritual traditions of the world, with anthropology and archeology, with art, poetry, and literature.
Depth psychology uses the language of Jungian and archetypal psychology to explore methods for understanding and working with the deep, soulful aspects of our lives. Depth inquiry is used to access, explore, and understand the hidden parts of our personal experience.
A Holistic Path To Health & Well-Being Through Jungian Depth Therapy
A Jungian approach to life’s problems focuses on helping you fulfill your true potential in life – what Jung referred to as “individuation.”
It differs from most other more traditional approaches to counseling and therapy, as it includes dream interpretation, art work, journaling, and spiritual development.
Jung conceived personality to be organized around the Self, which is both the center of individuality and wholeness. Therefore, the principle task is to reconnect with the Self we have become separated from due to societal pressures and our own personal histories.
This means going beyond the many roles we have in life – parent, child, sibling, spouse, employer, employee – and getting in touch with who we are at the core of our being.
Jung also realized that what often lies behind our sense of alienation within society is a life without a spiritual dimension. And this is as true today as it ever was!
The in-depth examination of life provided by Jungian therapy can benefit those who:
- Suffer from anxiety or depression;
- Experience envy or jealousy;
- Need to take a step back and look at life from a different perspective;
- Feel a loss of personal meaning in life;
- Anticipate or experience a change in their personal or professional lives;
- Wish to explore a decision, opportunity, or challenge;
- Want to discover a spiritual path in life;
- Hope to explore their sexual identity; or
- Are recovering from emotional or physical abuse.
If any of the chapters of your life seem dark, foreboding, inaccessible, or unresolved; if certain memories are accompanied by terror or tears; or if you want to explore life’s meaning and your purpose in it, Jungian depth counseling can help.
You can reclaim your fundamental right to live free of the shackles of old emotional wounds and deep recurring fears. You can recover that authentic part of your soul which feels lost, bring it home, and re-integrate it into your life. To learn more about Jungian depth therapy and find out if it’s right for you, contact me at 510-486-1188 or karenrosemft@rose-counseling.com for more information or to schedule an initial consultation.
Understanding The Meaning & Power Of Your Dreams
“The sleeping brain has eyes that give us light; we can never see our destiny by day.”
– Aeschylus
Everybody dreams.
Regardless of whether you remember several dreams a night, or recall your dreams rarely, if ever, the ubiquity of our dreams is one of the many things that connects us together as human beings.
However, while we all share the experience of having dreams on a nightly basis, the dreams themselves, the feelings they cause, and our interpretations of their meaning are very individual and personal events.
Scientists continue to debate whether or not dreams have any inherent meaning. But most people who work with dreams – myself included – find that dreams can be very meaningful experiences.
Many people find that dreams help them solve their problems. Artists, writers, and scientists often get creative ideas from their dreams. And understanding your dreams can help you learn more about your feelings, thoughts, behaviors, motives, and values.
In short learning to remember, understand, and appreciate your dreams can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and well-being.
Discovering Truth In Your Dreams
Jung said that “Dreams are impartial, spontaneous products of the unconscious psyche, outside the control of will. They are pure nature; they show us the unvarnished, natural truth…”
Dream analysis is central to Jung’s depth psychology because dreams describe what’s happening in the life of the dreamer from the point of view of the unconscious.
Just as auditory perception is limited for a person who is deaf in one ear, so our understanding of ourselves is limited by the single point of view of consciousness thought. To add to the conscious point of view the dream’s commentary from the unconscious realm is more than just helpful – it adds perspective, depth, quality, intensity, and fullness. It provides meaning and connects us to our inner spirit. It adds life!
Through the work I’ve done with countless clients, I’ve found that understanding our dreams leads to a deeper understanding of Self and our unique role in the world.
This understanding is a key to the natural healing process. It allows us to overcome life’s obstacles and reclaim our wholeness.
I’ve also discovered that each person has his or her own dream “language.” Any given place, person, object, or symbol can differ in its meaning from dreamer to dreamer and also from time to time in the dreamer’s ongoing life situation.
Therefore, when I help a client understand a dream through dreamwork, I adopt an attitude of “not knowing.” I reserve all judgments about a client’s dreams.
I wait until the dream description is complete before offering any comments or insights. And my clients often come to a deeper understanding of a dream by themselves simply by sharing their dream experience.
Appreciation of the validity or insightfulness of any comment from a dreamwork session can come later, sometimes days after the end of the session. But, regardless of the time it takes, I have found that dreamwork ultimately facilitates self-understanding and self-acceptance… “The unvarnished, natural truth.”
Learning To Live The Life Of Your Dreams
Jung regarded dreams as the royal road to the unconscious, a source of deep inner wisdom.
The goal of Jungian dreamwork is to gain access to this wisdom.
This access is gained through careful attention to dreams and other symbolic material that manifests through artistic expression, play, or other creative activity. In working with dreams, particular attention is paid to the subtle transformations of symbols and of the emotions associated with them, as they manifest over time in dream sequences.
Jungian dreamwork can provide you a deeper understanding of the language of your unconscious. This will enable you to listen more attentively to the voice of your own inner wisdom, and to receive with gratitude the numerous gifts your unconscious has to bestow.
These gifts enable you to embrace new responses to life’s challenges, to experience a new sense of meaning and purpose in life, and to bring this deep sense of meaning into your relationships with others.
If we decide dreamwork is appropriate, I will be happy to work with you to better understand the meaning of your dreams and provide instruction on how to remember your dreams through the use of a dream journal.
Over the years I have come to regard dreamwork as highly beneficial to my clients quests for greater understanding, spiritual peace, and joy.
Our dreams’ ability to help us access our own inner wisdom and truth – combined with their ability to help us achieve self-understanding and self-acceptance – is vital to the healing work I do with clients. Dreamwork truly helps me to help my clients achieve the life of their dreams!
If you’re interested in learning more about the dreamwork services I provide and how they can help you learn from your own dreams, or for more information regarding any of the other services I offer that are listed on this page, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 510-486-1188 or karenrosemft@rose-counseling.com.
I look forward to working with you and helping you live as fulfilling and rewarding a life as possible!