Alison Crosthwait

View Original

BEYOND PSYCHOTHERAPY

I started writing to write about psychotherapy. Because I think there is much that is important to be said about this practice.

And I think it is both powerful and little understood.

The more work I do, the more I expand my exposure to other healing modalities, the more I believe in what psychotherapy can do.

And the more I see that the question of what psychotherapy is is particular to each therapist-client pair.

I hear things like “talk therapy is limited” referring to the lack of body orientation in psychotherapy and I think that this is unfortunate. Because a therapist who has done work with their own body can do great bodywork with her clients.

The potential for psychotherapy to spark growth isn’t limited by anything but the two people working together. And so of course it has limitations. We’re all human with skin that separates us from the rest of the world.

I have found my work outside of psychotherapy to be foundational to who I am in my therapy office. I bring all of my experiences to clinical work and as I become more intentional about what experiences I have I am able to corral my energy around things that are helpful for both me and my clients.

My healing journey over the past twenty years has included serious forays into a variety of disciplines - I have listed many of them at the bottom of this post.

Stretching ourselves in new ways. Becoming a beginner. Accessing new legacies of wisdom. Challenging others. Coming to realize the particularity of our way. Allowing many people to hold us in our journey.

There are so many reasons to explore other modalities.

And no reason to insist “ours” is the right one.

Carl Jung writes about the tension of the opposites.

I think this is kind of how it works. Meditation practice stretches us one way. Psychotherapy the other. And as we allow ourselves to be stretched, but only enough such that we can stay present to what is happening, we transform.

Where does psychotherapy begin and end?

With you.  And with me.

****

Meditation

Hypnosis

Accupuncture

Naturopathy

Personal Training

Authentic Movement

Meisner Technique

Creative Writing

Continuum

Shamanic Work

Astrology

Coaching

Cranial Sacral

Massage

Tapping

 

To support the work of this site, sign up for my email list here.