Psychotherapy has been defined in various ways. It is essentially a relationship between an individual(s) and a therapist that focuses on the struggles, challenges, & psychological and spiritual growth of the individual(s) in therapy. The confidential nature of the treatment along with an exclusive focus on the client’s goals and attention to the client’s internal experience make psychotherapy a unique arrangement, which can allow for healing and growth to take place.

Suffering and tragedy are a part of life. Psychotherapy can be a place where individuals explore their experiences of suffering and tragedy in an effort to find meaning, learn about themselves, and develop more choices for how to live in the world. Awareness and choice go hand-in-hand. Once we become aware of how and why we live in the ways we do, we also increase our choices about continuing to live this way or doing something differently.

If you’ve ever watched certain flowers and plants grow toward the sun—sunflowers are a great example—then you can understand something about how human beings develop. We are born into the world with a particular temperament, predispositions, and a unique family and social structure. Given all of this, we begin to grow toward certain potentials or ways-of-being and away from others. We adapt to our circumstances, while still trying to be and become the unique individual that each of us is. This web of potential, disposition, and circumstance is what creates our unique sense of identity and personality. As we get older, we might discover that some of our ways of adapting work well for us and some do not. Or, we may discover that some aspects of our personality fit well in certain circumstances, but not in others. Often, a tragedy or unexpected change in life circumstance evokes the question of “How well am I living my life?” For some individuals, a vague sense of discontent may arise seemingly out of nowhere. Awareness in psychotherapy entails learning how we came to be where we are, what works for us, and how to increase our choices in living when our ways-of-being do not work so well. Psychotherapy also can be a safe place to explore and accept the things that we cannot change about ourselves and in our lives.

At Aletheia, psychotherapeutic exploration is in the service of connecting with oneself in deeper ways so that one can live in more alive, passionate, compassionate, and soulful ways. The language of myth, dreams, and astrology can be used as appropriate to open up possibilities for a client. In addition, various forms of consultation can be incorporated into an ongoing therapy.

Psychotherapy is conducted with individuals and dyads/couples/partners of any kind.