We'd like to tell you a bit about M.E.T.A., our orientation and what you may experience from receiving counseling services with us.
M.E.T.A. stands for Mindful Experiential Therapy Approaches. This name indicates certain important characteristics of how we work. We use applied mindfulness as a support to your increased self-awareness and any changes you intend to make. We recognize that all any of us really have is our experience, so we place your experience of yourself and the world central to the work we do together. We know there are many styles of therapy and ways of helping and, at the same time, realize you are the most important factor in your own healing and change process. So, our therapy approaches will be responsive and honor your actual needs and preferences. Our work is grounded in ways of helping that honor the body, heart, mind, and spirit. These include the Hakomi Method of body-centered, mindfulness-based psychotherapy; the Re-Creation of the Self (R-CS) model of human systems; the growing science of interpersonal neurobiology; human development and attachment research; and new understanding about how trauma is best processed. This results in our counselors taking a holistic and customized approach to their work with you, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This may be different from or very similar to what you have experienced in counseling or how you imagine counseling happens. We welcome your feedback along the way.
Besides our holistic clinical orientation, we also have a philosophy of helping that sees the value of creating a training clinic that can sustainably offer affordable counseling to a wide range of people. This requires implementing a fee structure that works for both you and us. We believe our $35 and $45 fees fit this intention.
What to Expect in a Session & Over Time
Mindfulness, Awareness & Change M.E.T.A. counselors may invite you to work with a special kind of consciousness called "mindfulness." This is a way of paying attention to yourself without self-judgment; like being your own inner accepting witness. It often means closing your eyes to focus your attention on your actual experiences in the moment. Since it is done with a counselor, it may feel a bit like assisted meditation, even though it involves no religious beliefs. Mindfulness is simply the ability to have an experience and notice it at the same time, without judging it or yourself. In a supportive counseling relationship, mindfulness provides an opportunity to slow down and take notice of automatic reactions, feelings, thoughts, and body-sensations. This can help you uncover deeply held beliefs and patterns operating under the surface of awareness. It can also indicate the healing experiences you need and want. Mindfulness is a tool and a process that helps you learn about what is and is not working in your life and how to make choices that lead to a more fulfilling life. Non-Violence, Unity, Organicity & Change M.E.T.A. counselors abide by the principles of non-violence, unity and organicity in their support of natural and healthy change. Non-violence is about not forcing things, about trusting the unique evolution of people's processes. Unity assumes we are all in it together; that we are interconnected and have impact on each other. Organicity recognizes all living systems have a flow and a natural impulse toward wholeness and health and that the counselor's job is to help remove barriers to this natural growth.
Respect for You
M.E.T.A. counselors have respect for you. Although M.E.T.A. counselors have valuable training and experience in psychology and counseling methods, they know you are the expert on yourself. You are the authority regarding what you choose to work on, and how far or how fast you go. Your counselor will act respectfully by inviting you to study yourself, by offering suggestions for experiments to try, and by providing a safe space in which to learn about yourself and try new things out. As senior M.E.T.A. trainer, Jon Eisman, says: "The therapist is in charge of the process and the client is in charge of the therapist."
Assisted Self-study
Research shows that true change means replacing habitual patterns with new, more satisfying ones. For this reason, M.E.T.A. counselors are interested in helping you study how you do things and what you are made of, as well as ways your habits support and hinder you. This self-study can lead to a new relationship with yourself and the way you approach your life, which in turn can powerfully impact the quality of your experiences. This orientation may feel different than a problem solving approach to therapy, but M.E.T.A. counselors have learned to trust the unfolding of the client's process as a powerful pathway to change.
Unique Experiences
Being mindful is a sensitive state and experiences are unique to each person. There is no "right" way to experience or explore your inner world. Sometimes physical sensations or impulses show up, or strong emotions arise, or stunning insights unfold. Other times, poignant memories may emerge or powerful images flash in your mind's eye. Sometimes you might feel younger than your actual years. Or things might simply get very quiet and still, or even boring or frustrating. Any of these experiences are normal and natural; in mindfulness, whatever occurs is welcomed and honored.
Shifting From Fragmentation to Wholeness
M.E.T.A. counselors have compassion and respect for people's struggles, pain, grief, and woundings, and they recognize the powerful capacities and gifts each person embodies. M.E.T.A. counselors may help you explore ways to learn to intentionally shift from disempowered, painful, limiting states of being into empowered, alive, preferred states of being.
Touch
The Hakomi Method is a body-centered approach and as such employs the use of touch in some of its techniques. If touch is used in a M.E.T.A. counseling session, its purpose is to support self-study and usually not to provide relief of physical tension or distress (although M.E.T.A. counselors may shake hands or offer comfort for grief or respond to hugs as is comfortable for clients). Touch used experimentally is always explained, done in mindfulness and with your permission, and in service of therapeutic exploration. Of course, you remain in charge and are always free to decline anything that feels uncomfortable for you for any reason.
Integration
Integration of new beliefs, attitudes and skills occurs over time and with practice and support. Even after a session is over, you will continue to work on change internally, and, hopefully, externally. You may find yourself in various moods, pleasant or not; you might have more or less energy; you might have particularly vivid dreams; you might feel peaceful, agitated, numb, excited, or tired. All kinds of experiences may present themselves as your inner self makes adjustments and integrates the new options you are creating and discovering. The more you also consciously align with this inner unfolding process, the more the growth you want can happen. Since change and growth take time, it can help to be patient with the process and remember that you deserve compassion and gentleness as you explore and re-create yourself.
