Experiential Therapy

I make use of experiential techniques often during my meetings to invite processing of emotions, feelings, thoughts, and narratives, especially those that occur between myself and the participant(s). My study and research of experiential techniques have led me to incorporate these practices with my narrative framework to spur awareness and recognition within participants.

Adventure Therapy, Experiential Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, Nature-Based Therapy… all of these names describe an approach of inviting clients to engage in an experience so that they can learn about themselves. Together we’ll decide what activity would be most helpful to you each session. We’ll engage in that activity together in a mindful, trauma-informed way and have deep, reflective conversion, weaving together relevant threads from Evidence Based Practices.

Hakomi is a type of experiential therapy, which means going beyond talk-therapy to focus on the moment.

Jodi's education in Contemplative Psychotherapy as well as her further training in body-centered Play Therapy and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy combines with her personal study of movement practices and expressive arts to create a perfect atmosphere for experiential therapy...beyond just talk.

I believe that to create change, it often helps to feel it first. After building emotional safety, my sessions invite the exploration of new emotional experience. We will invite deeper and different experiences in the room, so that you can "call" upon them outside of the room.

Talk therapy is the primary method of my counseling work. However, I maintain that there are "multiple ways to the same goal". We might talk about the content to see if that gets us there. We might also write about it, draw about it, walk about it (internet and tele-space willing*), close our eyes and meditate on it.

Recognizing that the therapeutic relationship is itself intended to be restorative.

Because I treat therapists who have often already tried to apply their knowledge to themselves, I have to stay creative to keep my clients on their toes. This means working with whatever comes up in the room! In my office, you'll find that EMDR, paired with this experiential approach, keeps your mind and body engaged enough to stay with the process and heal. We'll shortcut through those old objections and defenses you're used to hiding behind (when you're ready, of course.)

I am currently in an intensive Core Training on Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy.

Experiential therapy is about feeling the room and giving each client an experience that suits them best. It's basically "meeting each client where they're at", including mood, disposition and pace.

Experiential therapy is a major part of both individual and couples work, especially in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Instead of just talking about feelings, we work with them as they arise, creating corrective emotional experiences. In couples therapy, this means reshaping patterns in real time, helping partners respond to each other in ways that build trust and connection. This process allows for deep, lasting change, relieving and growing both individuals and relationships.

Experiential therapy is a holistic approach by which we engage the entire body in the therapeutic process. This engagement leads to the utilization of more regions of the brain which then leads to better integration.

Once we understand how the trauma is affecting you today we can do a deeper piece of work. Experiential therapy creates an internal shift and is more effective than just talk therapy alone. It breaks through unconscious resistances and gets to the root of the underlying traumas. By depicting your inner world visually through inner child work, Gestalt empty chair techniques, psychodrama techniques etc, you will experience new insights, release emotions, and new healthy beliefs about self emerge.

I have extensively studied the work and careers of Carl Whitaker and Virginia Satir, two pioneers in the field of experiential. Each approached clients differently, but both approached clients in a deeply human way that doesn't shy away from saying or experiencing what is necessary to affect change.

Talk therapy alone is ineffective without experiencing your growth through applying skills to gain consciousness, awareness, and insight, along with skills and processes to work with the conditions of our lives that challenge us. One must "experience their life" to make actual change.