Golden Leaf counsels from a belief system that mankind has a spiritual dimension as well as a physical one… working with the whole person, rather than with just the one issue that someone may present with. I incorporate an Existential outlook into my Person Centred counselling base, along with Gestalt and Behavioural working tools.
The Existential approach is more about the journey than the destination…if you think this sounds interesting ask for more details when you contact me.
Since the past continually impacts on the present, I find that Freudian psychodynamic processes are useful for unravelling complex past influences.
I work with the beliefs of each client on an individual basis. I respect other belief systems (my own background is Christian) and have spent time studying other ways of faith. I meditate, practice yoga, have Jewish and Muslim friends, and believe in the use of other techniques and disciplines, such as acupuncture, reflexology, or herbology. The importance of paying attention to diet, sleep and exercise needs to be mentioned too.
I also use dream work and art and music as appropriate and in agreement with you, the client, within my counselling sessions.
Carl Jung said of dreams (1939) in “Modern Man in Search of a Soul”:
The dream gives a true picture of the subjective state, while the conscious mind denies that this state exists, or recognizes it only grudgingly (p. 5).
He also comments:
It is the way of dreams to give us more than we ask (p. 5).
Making Meaning: Many believe that personal beliefs are at the root of every meaningful action.
Golden Leaf believes that we all operate from a personal value system that guides our actions and our meanings. We are not always aware what this value system is – it may have been passed on to us through family or other influences – but it is helpful to know what your own values are. Your values help shape your thinking and your decisions.
“The paradox of faith is that we can never be certain of anything but we have to act as if it is so, in full knowledge that it may not be.”
(Van Deurzen & Adams, 2011: 152).
“Faith is the susbtance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11: 1, KJV Bible).