Services
These methods are helpful for people coping with depression, trauma, anxiety, grief, stress, burnout, post-traumatic stress, life transitions including end-of-life, relationship issues, and general self-care needs. They can also be wonderful methods for exploring your creative potential, spiritual questions and transpersonal experiences. All lived experiences are welcome and supported in an inclusive and non-judgmental space. I believe that you know what you need, and our journey will be a collaborative one.
Music Psychotherapy
Music psychotherapy brings music into the therapeutic space. No musical training or experience is needed to benefit.
These one-hour sessions might involve:
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Intentional, deep music listening
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Music and breathing
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Analyzing the lyrics of songs or elements of music to gain insights
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Making music whether through accessible instruments and/or vocalizing/singing
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Writing songs to express feelings and experiences that might be hard to discuss verbally
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Moving to music
Talk and verbal processing are also an important component of sessions.
Guided Imagery and Music (GIM)
GIM brings a unique creative element to the therapeutic process. My post-graduate training in this method provided me with theories and practices that inspire all of my work. My training specifically focused on the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (BMGIM) and adaptations of this method.
Helen Bonny was a music therapist who was involved in the US government’s research investigating the impact of LSD/psychedelics on mental health in the 1970s. She combined relaxation techniques and classical music to accompany the research participants while under the influence of the drug. After some time, it became clear that her techniques on their own, without the drug, were a powerful method for transformative work. She continued to research music and deep listening states and developed this remarkable therapeutic technique.
BMGIM is provided in an hour-and-a-half to two hour session. Sessions typically involve:
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Listening to a program of classical/instrumental music in a deeply relaxed and open state while verbalizing experiences, images, and sensations that are experienced through the music.
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A relaxation preparation.
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A pre-talk to check in and establish a focus for the session.
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A return from the music to discuss the experience.
Personal insights emerge through experiences in the music - perhaps illuminating past experiences once difficult to acknowledge, bringing unconscious material into consciousness, or giving you access to transpersonal and spiritual experiences that inspire and open you to possibilities for your future. Some people engage in this method to access creative and transpersonal experiences while others are seeking an accessible way to work through difficult times in their life. The potential of this method is limitless, and adaptations can be used depending on your current mental and physical state and readiness for deep work.
Support for Medical Procedures and/or New Diagnoses
Given my life experiences in the healthcare system, I also support clients who have received a new medical diagnosis and/or are preparing for appointments, treatments, scans and other procedures that create fear and anxiety for them. I do this through adaptations of GIM techniques.
Book a Consultation
Please email me to set up a free 15min call via Zoom or phone to discover if I am a good fit for your needs and to receive information about my rates.
I hold two sliding scale spots in my caseload.
I'm currently offering sessions virtually via Zoom or in-person in my home studio in the east end of Toronto.
“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in”
― Leonard Cohen