We are made up of not just body and mind, but feelings, and core Self (or soul, from a spiritual perspective). These aspects of us are not separate.

Our thoughts and feelings affect our physical functioning, sensations, and immune systems, which affect our thoughts and feelings, which inform our behavior and relationships, and everything in between. Our unique spirits, in conversation with the Spirit that animates our living planet, is also an important part of who we are and deserves to be known and engaged.

The mind-body-spirit connection is real. At Focal Points Therapy, my approach to therapy reflects this truth.

Modalities we’ll use:

At Focal Point Therapy, you’ll work with the different aspects of your inner and outer life by speaking different languages of self-inquiry and understanding, such as:

✨ Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
✨ Emotional Freedom Technique (“tapping” meditation using acupressure)
✨ Sandplay Therapy and Expressive Arts Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

"Our thoughts are not the problem. Our thoughts do not create the psychological smog. It is the way we respond to our thoughts that creates the smog."
— Russ Harris, The Reality Slap

ACT is a mindfulness and body-based approach to changing how we relate to our thoughts and emotions—and helping us live from our values.

When we feel anger, we might yell or lash out.
When we feel sadness or anxiety, we might ignore our feelings, avoid others, numb out with by self-medicating with any number of things (TV, shopping, sex, substances, exercise, workaholism), or even overcompensate by saying yes to things we don’t want to do.

But suppression and avoidance rarely work long term. They drain our energy and often intensify the very emotions we are trying to silence.

ACT teaches us to:

• Return to the present moment when feelings and thoughts takes us out of it

• Be flexible with thoughts and feelings rather than impulsively reacting to them in ways we regret

• Use the skill of Defusion to lean in to thoughts that are values-based but let go of self-defeating ones

• Use the skill of Expansion to make room in the body and heart for painful feelings, so we aren’t consumed by “negative” emotions but don’t spend our energy avoiding them

• Be mindful of thoughts, feelings, physical sensation, rather than judgmental of ourselves

We may choose to act on thoughts and emotions when they align with our core values and support our short and long-term goals. But the key is choice.

Expressive Arts Therapy

"Art making is a way of dwelling in whatever is before us that needs our attention. There is a universal tendency to turn away from difficulty. Image making allows for staying with something while making that staying bearable through the pleasure available in using the materials."
— Pat Allen, Ph.D., ATR-BC

Creative expression has always been part of my life: writing, journaling, making visual art, singing, creating “mixtapes” as emotional snapshots.

You don’t need to be “good at art” to benefit from using the arts in therapy.

In sessions, creative arts may be used to:

• Access deeper understanding of past and present experience

• Learn about what you might be truly needing, beyond what you think you need or should need

• Process trauma too overwhelming to be encountered directly

• Envision and rehearse change

• See and recover from inherited perfectionism

• Regulate the nervous system with movement and use of tactile materials

• Be witnessed and cared for in what is too raw to say out loud

Adults are especially in need of creativity. Conditioned by a society that prioritizes productivity, logical understanding, black and white thinking (this or that, good or bad), and problem-solving, our capacities for intuition and mind-body-spirit living shrink as we get older. Creativity helps us recover and reconnect with the truth of who we are and the vitality we were born with.

Sandplay Therapy

Sandplay is a hands-on, depth-oriented modality that helps us connect with the psyche’s natural drive toward healing and wholeness.

In sessions, clients use sand, miniature figures, and imagination to build symbolic “worlds” that reflect inner truths.

No need to create a “story” or explain. The symbols speak for themselves.

Anything that appears in the sand is thought to be a worthwhile expression of something true.

Clients often find:

• A release of emotional tension

• Access to intuition and creativity—discovery of how you are experiencing your life at a given time and how present relates to past and future for you

• Insight into long-standing patterns

• A sense of calm or grounding through embodied creativity and sensory activity

• Being nurtured through being witnessed and respected in your unique creation

You might use Sandplay every session, or occasionally when we seek deeper understanding of what you’re working on. From your very first time, your symbols and inner story begin to unfold—gently, enjoyably, and meaningfully.