Talk therapy is one of our core access modalities. Through profound conversation, active listening, storytelling and reflection, clients are able to identify thoughts, feelings, beliefs and narratives that were guiding the undercurrent of their life. By making the unconscious conscious, change is more easily accessible. At Resonant Energy Therapy, talk therapy sessions are conducted from a humanistic, person-centred lens. There may be elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Bejavioural Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Grief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Feminist Theory, Gestalt and parts work in talk therapy sessions.

The creation of any art, in any way, holds therapeutic value. I always invite clients to express themselves and their story in a way that genuinely resonates with them, and for most that will involve the creation of art in some way. Additionally, in sessions we will use metaphors and analogies extensively. An inmportant part of trauma work is ensuring that we employ creative thinking and visceral expression. Changing our relationship wtih the past requires a creativity in the present, and ultimately the ability to relate to the past in a new way, potentially through a new medium. If the story has always been the same memory, we will always have the same relationship. If however we turn the memory into say a song, or a feature film, or a recipe, we are able to interact with it in new ways. It is important to note that I am not a music or art therapist - my role is not to provide art making in an effort to acheive a therapeutic result. Rather my role is to invite you to engage with your creative side in order to more effectively be seen, heard and understood.

Somatic therapy was developed by Peter Levine as a response to the physical manifestions in clients suffering from PTSD, both acute and chronic. Somatic therapy is a new and upcoming modality, which means it is important that you do your own research and understand that it is not yet an evidence based modality. When we're doing a somatic session, we are slowing down and deeply experiencing the lived sensations within the body. Once we are able to do so, we utilize a tool called SIBAM (sensations, images, behaviours, affect and meaning). Somatic therapy endeavours to create a communication from the body to the mind, free of judgement, and in an effort to allow the body to express that which has been repressed. Somatic therapy works closely with the autonomic nervous system and can be useful in supporting chronic illness and pain, trauma, grief, injury, anxiety and a variety of other symptoms. 

Parts work, inspired by Internal Family Systems which was developped by Richard Schwartz, is not so much a modality but a way of experiencing oneself. A parts work approach acknowledges that within one person, there are many different parts of the psyche which work collectively to create the whole person. IFS identifies that certain parts have different roles, and developped as a response to different experiences in a person's life. There will be parts that seek protection, parts which protect through management, and some parts that protect through drastic measures. Parts work sees symptoms as understandable expressions of these parts, and seeks to identify the parts, relieve them of their burdens, and support the client in getting to knwo their self energy/soul/true self/etc. Within parts work, we can engage all other forms of therapy and cater the experience to each unique part.

While the above are the most common modalities I use in session, we will also have the opportunity to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Grief Therapy, Eco Therapy and Narrative Therapy in session. Typically these modalities will be employed during a talk therapy session.