For several years, Ken Wilber (creator of Integral Theory), has been talking about how close to 10% of the world's population is reaching the next stage of psychological development (2nd tier consciousness for any Integralists out there), which creates a tipping point: with that much of the population at that developmental stage, that stage's values will start to be infused in our world's systems.
Anyone who studies developmental psychology knows that crises (such as this virus) act as fulcrums to launch us to the next stage of development (breakdown > breakthrough). I believe this is the exact thing our species needs to launch us to our next stage of development, which will be an unprecedented shift because it's a whole different tier of consciousness.
Read moreIn August of last year, as part of my year-long psychedelic-assisted therapy training program at CIIS, I volunteered at a legal psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) retreat center in Amsterdam called Synthesis. Of 4 facilitators, I was the only female facilitator, and one of 2 licensed therapists. 15 participants took a high dose of psilocybin during a 3-day retreat in a beautiful renovated church in the small beach town of Zandvoort.
Read moreSo often, I hear therapists say, “I don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about marketing. I didn’t get into this profession for business. I just want to do therapy.” I get it, you don’t have time to attend all those networking luncheons, you’re not a blogger, you may even know about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but don’t have time to do anything about it. I hear you; but, we gotta get people in the door, and with so many therapists from which to choose, we have to make ourselves stand out. But that doesn’t have to be as painful or time-consuming as you think.
Read moreZoom out.
This is a phrase I say to myself whenever I notice I’m feeling activated (angry, sad, shocked, etc. This works with all emotions). It’s a reminder to take a breath (never underestimate the power of the breath), let the context sink in, look at it from other perspectives, and ask myself, “am I going to be upset by this 1 year from now? 1 month from now? 1 day from now? Probably not? Then why am I letting it upset me now?”
Read moreI’m sure I’m not the only therapist who suffers from Impostor Syndrome (a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud") when first starting. After four years of grad school, I still didn’t feel ready to actually sit in front of people and tell them how to make their lives better (who the heck was I to do that??).
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