Method

An integrative and holistically-oriented philosophy guides Tanya’s practice. With a unique blend of western and eastern practices, her goal is to help you uncover your true potential and lead a life that is worth celebrating. With Tanya’s guidance, you will unearth long-standing self-defeating patterns or negative perceptions that may be holding you back from having a more fulfilling and meaningful life. Therapy is always geared toward your specific needs. Clients often remark how powerfully and naturally change is occurring in their lives.

EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, commonly known as EMDR, is one of the most well-researched therapies available for helping individuals who have experienced traumatic events. EMDR therapy incorporates bilateral stimulation into a comprehensive approach that processes and releases information trapped in the mind and body, targeting underlying negative beliefs and replacing them with more appropriate and positive ones. Clients’ increase their awareness of triggers, stress responses and beliefs that contribute to their distress and learn new ways to self-soothe and calm themselves when experiencing symptoms. Clients who have experienced childhood traumas that have impacted their sense of safety and capacity to form close emotional relationships in adulthood can be profoundly helped by EMDR by incorporating an attachment repair orientation into the therapy. These relational traumas can include childhood physical or sexual abuse, neglect, early losses, birth trauma, medical trauma, caregiver disconnection and vicarious trauma. In addition to the treatment of PTSD, EMDR is also used to treat the psychological effects of smaller traumas that manifest in symptoms of depression, anxiety, phobias, low self-esteem and motivation, creativity blocks, and relationship difficulties. Not only does healing occur much more rapidly than in traditional therapy, but as a result of EMDR’s clearing of emotional and physical blockages, many people come to experience more joy, openness, and deep connection with others.

Tanya has been practicing EMDR since 2006 and has advanced training in this modality. She has successfully performed hundreds of sessions and is considered an expert.

Mindfulness Practices

Mindfulness may be fundamentally understood as the state in which one becomes more aware of one's physical, mental, and emotional condition in the present moment, without judgment. Mindfulness can be of great benefit, as it can enable clients to become better able to separate themselves from negative thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations that may be present, often before they become too overwhelming. Several disciplines and practices can cultivate mindfulness, such as, yoga, tai chi, qigong, and mindfulness meditation and can be a helpful adjunct in the therapeutic process. These are self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being and development and/or specific capacities such as calmness, clarity and concentration.

Tanya has been a meditation practitioner since the mid-1990s and has an extensive background in mindfulness practices.

somatic Experiencing

In the Somatic Experiencing model, the focus is on resolving nervous system dysregulation. This dysregulation can occur as the result of trauma, but may occur even in the absence of specific traumatic events—early attachment issues, for example. What is primary is to restore the nervous system to a natural state of regulation. To this end, SE is well integrated with many modalities of therapy, adding richness and depth to other methods that may have a more primary focus on the emotional or cognitive aspects of experience. The focus is on the physiological, the sensations, the body. By following the body’s wisdom, the client is systematically and gently led back to whatever physical, emotional and mental experiences did not get resolved and released. Clients are provided with the opportunity of re-doing the event—finding in the present the way that the body would naturally, organically respond if it was left to its own devices. This renegotiation is done almost entirely through visualization, and slow, intentional movements, deeply connected to sensations and procedural movement patterns. This allows the discharge process to complete, and the trauma symptoms are moved out of the body, while the nervous system is allowed to return to pre-trauma functioning.

Tanya has been practicing SE since 2007. She primarily uses it in conjunction with EMDR therapy, finding the combination to be quite more effective than alone.

Art Therapy

Art Therapy is a wonderful modality for bringing more awareness to self and others. This in turn can promote personal development, increase coping skills, self-confidence and enhance cognitive functioning. It is based on personality theories, human development, psychology, family systems, and art education. Art therapists are trained to pick up on nonverbal symbols and metaphors that are often expressed through art and the creative process, concepts that are usually difficult to express with words. It is through this process that the individual bypasses the thinking, rational mind and moves into the felt-sense, where the truer aspects of self are more readily revealed.

Tanya has been studying and practicing Art Therapy since the mid-90s. And she has been an artist her entire life. Exploring self and other through the medium of art is a life long passion and is her second-nature.

Guided Imagery

Guided Imagery is a gentle but powerful technique that focuses and directs the imagination. It focuses the imagination by inducing deep relaxation to create calm, peaceful images in the mind, thereby providing a mental escape. Guided imagery is not strictly a "mental" activity - it involves the whole body, the emotions and all the senses, and it is precisely this body-based focus that makes for its powerful impact. It has been increasingly established by research findings that demonstrate its positive impact on physical health, emotion, creativity and performance.

Tanya is very adept at creating the best atmosphere and scripts for helping clients move deeply into their experience. Tanya has been a true believer of Guided Imagery's healing abilities since the mid-90s. She uses it extensively for resourcing and relaxation.

Journeying

An element of the sacred traditions of peoples from every inhabited land, Journeying is a powerful meditative state. It takes us into a very special level of consciousness that helps us work more deeply with intuitive and spiritual guidance. Prolonged hypnotic drumming is used to promote relaxation and bring forth a trance-like visionary awareness. The alternative realms of Spirit, of our visions and dreams, also can be real, accessible, and tangible. Spirit travel can open the door to an awareness that there are other realities, other worlds. These other worlds are sources of energy, creativity, passion and love that are a part of the everyday world we know. Finding our way there and into their realm can be a blessing that brings us to more wisdom, support, and self-empowerment.

Tanya has been a practitioner of Core Shamanism and Modern Shamanic practices since 2010. Beautiful practices that have been around since the dawn of humanity, Tanya believes that these ancient wisdom teachings hold a profound place for healing at a more cellular, epigenetic, and energetic level.

Equine-Assisted Therapy & Equine-Guided Coaching

Equine-Assisted Therapy & Equine-Guided Coaching can be an effective modality for addressing a wide range of therapeutic needs. Through interactions and guidance from equine therapists, clients discover and explore behaviors and relationship patterns that have become challenging in their day-to-day lives. The very size and strength of these majestic, gentle giants can stir deeply buried emotions while simultaneously affording opportunities to identify and resolve practical matters of communication, empathy, leadership skills, and basic interpersonal respect.

Tanya had a dream since childhood to bring horses into her life. Beginning in the late 90s, she began having magical encounters with horses, most importantly in Greece in 2008. It was thereafter that Tanya dedicated her free time to being with and learning all that she could about horses. Her beautiful grey mare, continues to be an inspiration and great love of her life. Tanya has been a practitioner of Equine-Assisted Therapy & Equine-Guided Coaching since 2010 and delights in bringing the wisdom of the The Herd's teachings to others.

Nature-Inspired Therapy

Nature-Inspired Therapy is the process of including the natural world in therapy. Humans have evolved from nature, resulting in a deep connection to it. Strengthening this relationship with the natural world can play a valuable role in improving our mental health. Nature has restorative and therapeutic values that have been distinctive throughout time. Being in touch with the flora, fauna, the elements, the seasons, cycles and weather patterns, is also a reminder of our own inner strengths and innate wisdom. Mother nature is a safe container for exploring personal fears, facing challenges, and challenging self-imposed limitations.

Tanya has been a lover and explorer of the natural world since she was a young child. She understands and utilizes the power of nature's gentle guidance within a therapeutic context whenever possible.