A unique approach to:
Shamanic Counselling
A simple yet unique way of working with Shamanic Counselling.
Aside from Psycho-Shamanic process work, I offer a type of Shamanic Counselling. The shamanic lineage I study with works with the spinners and weavers. During this type of Shamanic Counselling, we ask these allies to assist us. One way I hold this connection is by knitting as we talk. This helps me stay connected to these powerful allies and it has the bonus of neuroscience benefits to back up the effectiveness.
We meet over the phone. I knit as we talk.
You are welcome to knit or not.
This could be a good fit for you if:
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You would like some coaching with your own Shamanic Practice.
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you've worked with me and need some advice, had questions, or needed to support your integration of the work with some talk and sharing your story.
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You haven't worked with me and want to get a sense of the work in a safe contained way.
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You prefer talk therapy and don't mind connecting over the phone.
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You would like some practical tools to manage your stress, mental health, and/or spiritual journey.
Story behind Shamanic Counselling and Knitting
I am neurodivergent and often worry about how I could hold my attention on the phone. In person or zoom, it is never a problem as I have a visual connection. Shamanic work is also not a problem as I am fully connected to spirit. However counselling over the phone is something I struggle with. I remembered back to a Ted talk I watched about finding flow and focus through simple creative practices and thought of knitting. I have been knitting since I was eight years old and always feel my best ideas and insight come while knitting. So I started knitting during my telephone sessions and the results were profound for me. I found so much joy in my work and better yet, I was receiving such positive feedback from my clients. At the same time, I was studying with the weavers and spinners lineage of shamanic work and could feel this connection to the work as I was engaging in the ancient fibre art of knitting.
My curious mind had to explore what was going on and I started to delve into some clinical research around what was happening and why the simple act of me knitting while talking/listening, was so profound. I found out about some science to back up my discoveries. A neuroscientist, Kelly Lambert, PhD, has studied how working with you hands can be good for your brain. Activities using your hands can engage our brains in more creative ways than we're used to. I directly noticed this during my sessions - I found that creative ideas flowed during sessions in ways I hadn't experienced before.
This research confirmed this and found that functioning hands foster a flow in the mind that leads to thoughts and ideas that can feel spontaneous and often take the mind out of the process - meaning the ideas tend to flow out of my presence with a client and not my thinking. Thus allowing me to be more present and attentive.
The idea of flow is not new to psychotherapy. It is talked about as an ideal mind state for a psychotherapist during a session. It is the idea of letting go of the mind and letting a process emerge between two people and the relationship space created. The knitting for me helps me to create this type of flow space and provides the structure of this container.
Often psychological problems come from a place of stuckness or in others words, we often can’t move past a certain thought, relationship pattern, emotion or body sensation, or even physical health concern. We find ourselves going around in a loop and this is creating a deeper hole that we feel stuck in. Finding a place of flow through conversation can allow this stuckness to shift. This is the core of this types of Shamanic Counselling. Loop by loop we create a sacred space for healing and finding unique flow each session.
What it is: A regular Shamanic Counselling session done over the phone while I am knitting and connecting to spirit in the process. You don't need to knit yet you can.
If you are interested in more information - check out:
Book by Kelly Lambert, PhD. "Lifting Depression: A neuroscientist's Hands-on Approach to Activating your Brain's Healing Power.
Ted Talk by Josie Lewis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M80Rh3wocQ