Psychotherapy: Tending the Soul
I use the terms counselling and psychotherapy interchangeably. Both are tools for attending to and inquiring about the Self, identifying and overcoming blocks to personal growth and developing healthy relationships to oneself, others and the world around us. Counselling and psychotherapy are also ways to learn about how to regulate our nervous systems, process our emotions and heal our trauma. There are a multitude of ways to practice therapy. I specialize in practices of body-based therapy, nature-based therapy and depth psychotherapy. As listed below, I also offer a host of other, complimentary modalities.
Individual and/or Group Therapy
I work with people individually and in group settings. Group therapy is an accessible and powerful way to do healing work with peers in community. For more information on group therapy, check out this post.
Body-Based Psychotherapy
Our bodies are sites of knowledge – they carry our hopes, dreams, fears, traumas and deepest knowings. Working at the level of body includes working with the nervous system. We learn to notice when our systems are out of balance or dysregulated and how to regulate our nervous systems with others (co-regulation) and on our own (self-regulation).
Working with the body also slows us down and helps us notice and feel into how the body is giving us cues about our personal, often unconscious truths. These truths emerge through felt senses and subtleties like gestures, eye movements, flushing, vocal fluctuations, etc. Through body-based work, we also notice and unwind unconscious patterns of tension and trauma that express in our postures, felt senses and in the ways we hold ourselves.
A body-based orientation gives our busy thinking minds a break, instead leaning into present moment, embodied ways of knowing and healing.
Nature-Based Therapy
Outdoor sessions are a powerful and often fun way to do counselling. Working in natural settings enables us to draw on the direct and immediate experience of nature as a resource in the healing process. In an outdoor session we might sit by the ocean, take a stroll in the forest, learn about the medicinal and energetic properties of plants, build an outdoor shelter, or co-create a ritual.
The possibilities for working with nature are vast, sometimes spontaneous and often creative and meaningful. Outdoor sessions can teach us how to connect with nature in an intentional and therapeutic way. These practices and the connection to nature as a resource can be drawn on outside of counselling sessions and integrated into everyday life.
Outdoor therapy work is inspired by ecopyschology, a way of understanding the human psyche as interdpendent with and interconnected to the wild world around us. For more information on ecopsychology and outdoor work, check out this blog post.
Nature-based therapy is also integrated into indoor sessions by bringing teachings, principles and meaningful experiences in nature into the room.
Depth Psychotherapy
Inspired by the work of Carl Jung, depth psychotherapy is a process of going down and in to unearth and connect with one’s true Self, soul, and essence. In depth psychotherapy we actively and intentionally deconstruct the ego self – or our personalities – for the purpose of awakening our true Selves or souls. From a depth perspective, our personalities develop in response to our early environments, often as defences against pain and in bids for belonging and acceptance.
Our true Selves and souls live in the realms of the body, dreams and the unconscious. They carry our deep and often unconscious longings, desires and shadows. When we turn our attention inward, we learn to access our own deeper knowings, intuitions, and unique truths. In depth psychotherapy we invite our deeper natures and our hidden parts forward to enter into dialogue with consciousness. As we look ahead – for our role, place, purpose and meaning in the cosmos, we stay in relationship with the mysterious unfolding at the core of our true Selves.
“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung
Folks who are drawn to darkness and mystery, places like swamps and caves and the underworld are often called to do depth and shadow work. When we embark on this work, we accept that things are likely to feel more uncomfortable before they feel comfortable. In depth work, we intentionally orient towards the dark and the unseen so we can bring it to light. For more information on depth psychotherapy, read on below.
Gender, Sex and Sexuality
My practice is a safe space for folx to explore questions around gender, Eros, sex and sexuality. So often these topics are left out of the counselling room, as if they weren’t central to our lived experiences. Sex and sexuality are rich topics for exploration. In session we might explore questions of pleasure, repression/sexual trauma, kink, fantasy, fear, etc. No topic is off limits, discussion and exploration are welcome and encouraged.
Who I work with
I have a special interest in working with queer and non-binary folx, neurodivergent individuals, spiritually-oriented people and creative types. As someone who identifies in these ways, I am able to relate to the issues, challenges, worldviews and gifts that often arise alongside these identities. I also welcome all people who are committed to self development and deep inner work.
I also work with folx in relationships along the spectrum from family dynamics to intimate connections.
In addition, I have experience supporting clients struggling with depression, anxiety, grief, loss and personal exploration.
How I work:
I work to provide you with a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space as you take your unique path to wellness. I bring a holistic perspective to mental health which integrates a variety of approaches and perspectives in our work together. I value this approach because I believe that when our challenges are multifaceted, our solutions must be too.
To this end, I work with a wide variety of therapeutic approaches, including:
- Mindfulness
- Somatics/Body-based psychotherapy
- Existentialism
- Nature-based therapy
- Spirituality
- Jungian psychology
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing)
- Expressive arts
- I encourage clients to lean into art, movement, writing, inquiry and dreamwork among other things as pathways into creativity and connection to their deeper selves.
The Journey of Depth Psychotherapy
Embarking on the path of depth psychotherapy is like starting a journey or a trek into unknown terrains. We open, invite and enter into the Mystery that is at the heart of this life and uniquely encoded in each of our souls. We often find ourselves traversing new landscapes, accessing new tools and outlooks. We come to meet ourselves and the world in new ways. Sometimes we find new relationships in our journeys – to guides, dreams, archetypes or people. We also learn to navigate the underworld and bring vision into darkness.
This journey is poetic, alchemical (transformative), and not for the faint of heart. We must be ready to give up the life we knew and open to the unknown. As a depth psychotherapist, I position myself as a guide and companion along your unique journey to Soul and Self.
Connection
In my experience as both a recipient and practitioner of therapy, I have learned that many of us struggle with the pain of disconnection. Meditation teacher and psychologist Tara Brach speaks to the challenges of living in an age of social media and materialism; we live in a culture that is at once highly communicative and highly disconnected. High quantities of interactions (e.g. texts and social media interactions) often mean we give and receive low quality connection. Modern culture makes it easy to lose touch with the people around us and more importantly with our deeper sense of ourseves.
As a therapist, I help clients:
- Reclaim their connections to their authentic selves
- Work through blocks in connecting to others and develop healthy relationships
- Connect to their place and purpose in the world
Remembering how to be in authentic connection can help address challenges like loneliness, isolation, relationship issues, depression and anxiety.
Working Together
Currently based in Victoria, B.C., and the Cowichan Valley, I am available to work with clients in person and online.
I offer a free consult to help you assess whether working with me will be a fit.
contact: kalenleaf@gmail.com
“Working with Kalen has been a very natural experience, full of ease and trust. I really appreciate the way they hold space and simultaneously responds in a helpful and appropriate manner. As a result, I have left our sessions feeling heard, and with a lot more clarity. They are a very talented, grounded therapist, who offers so much wisdom and clarity.” — S.H
“Working with Kalen has been a great experience. Their interest in and ability to tailor our sessions to my specific needs has been positive and helpful. As my first foray into therapy they made me feel comfortable and supported and I find so much value in our relationship.”
— M.A.