Contemplative Care, Mindfulness-Based Counseling, & Mind-Body Training

I work with individuals and groups interested in engaging in the contemplative process of self-exploration.

Health is more than the elimination of disease or symptoms. Emotional, mental, social, economic, political, spiritual and behavioral factors directly affect your well-being. In response, my work focuses on helping you create a sense of resiliency, balance, and peace. Think of this as contemplative mentoring rather than healthcare treatment. Finding your inner resources, your inner strength and cultivating a sense of meaning and purpose in life are at the very heart of my approach, as I help you train to live in a way that aligns with your values and most benefits your whole-person well-being.

For many people, the words counseling or coaching hold negative connotations, especially when thinking about health. The Latin root of the word doctor is docere, which means teacher, and this is the role I assume in my work. I am not curing you of your dis-ease. Instead, we collaboratively explore how you wish to live and breathe into this one precious life, and then practice ways to move in that direction. This process is not for everyone. Those who do best with this collaborative process are focused taking an active role in their lives and are curious to explore new ways of orienting to others, the world around them, and themselves.

My contemplative-based approach integrates my education in naturopathic medicine with my years of study and training in contemplative practices and mind-body medicine (breathwork, mindfulness, meditation, biofeedback, somatic and movement therapies) as well as hospice/end-of-life care. Since the first step in any change process involves self-awareness, you will be invited to become more intimate with your lived experience as you mindfully monitor your physical sensations, moods and emotions, thought patterns and habitual behaviors. Between session, you will engage in home practices that mirror our training during your session.

Symptoms, Contemplative Practice, & Mind-Body Medicine

Contemplative care & mind-body approaches emphasizes the whole person rather than treat a specific diagnosis or disease. And still, monitoring symptoms can be useful to assess change. Once again, while not treating symptoms but exploring how you are orienting to and breathing into your life, contemplative care & mind-body approaches have been shown to be helpful when suffering with the following:

  • Addictions

  • Anxiety

  • Asthma

  • ADD/ADHD

  • Chronic insomnia

  • Chronic pain

  • Depression

  • Fatigue

  • Headaches

  • High blood pressure

  • Hyperactivity

  • Insomnia

  • Irritable bowel syndrome / SIBO

  • Panic Attack / PTSD

  • PMS

  • Raynaud’s disease

Mindfulness-Based Counseling

Contemplative mentoring combines numerous traditions and modalities, any of one of them may be employed during your sessions. However, some people seek specific modalities, such as breathwork, biofeedback training, or contemplative-based counseling.

More than just a “talking” therapy, contemplative-based counseling uses mindfulness- and compassion-based approaches for self-regulation. With awareness and self-respect you learn to identify your triggers, your subsequent mental, emotional and physical reactions, and develop new skills to respond in optimal ways that cultivate a life more aligned with your values.