Mission Statement
Illuminations, Inc. recognizes the difficulty of recognizing and alleviating symptoms of traumatic stress, the severe pain and suffering associated with psychological trauma, the dramatic impact trauma can have on an individual's life, and the need for specialized techniques to alleviate symptoms. Therefore, Illuminations, Inc. strives to provide high quality, cutting-edge treatment to persons that would otherwise go undiagnosed and/or untreated by general practitioners of mental health treatment.
Hours of Business
Office hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday.
Because of the nature of this work, my evenings and weekends are reserved for self-care.
Finding the Office
Confidentiality
Privacy is a cornerstone on which the therapeutic relationship is built. Confidentiality is strictly maintained unless there are compelling professional reasons, such as legal statutes or ethics, which require breach of a client's confidentiality. This includes instances in which there is a threat of danger to the client or another person. With your consent (or the consent of a person legally authorized to consent on your behalf), confidential information may be disclosed when appropriate.
Please note that when asking managed care company or other third party to pay for your care, I cannot guarantee confidentiality of your records. Managed care companies usually require information that justifies your need for care, such as your diagnosis, treatment plan, and progress being made. This is a condition set by them for footing the bill. Please check directly with your insurer for their privacy practices, who has access to your information once they receive it, and how it may limit your future insurability.
Emergencies
Established clients are given specific information about reaching me in the event of an emergency. "Emergencies" consist of retraumatization or flooding of intrusive symptoms. Most situations can be dealt with during regular business hours, but if you are having a true emergency, go to your nearest emergency room or call 911.
Treatment Philosophy
Remember Driver's Ed? The instructor sat in the passenger seat with a second set of mirrors and brakes to ensure safety. This is similar to how I see my role in working with clients. You're in the driver's seat and I'm in the passenger's seat, with your unique embodiment of your life experiences as the vehicle for traveling the road of healing. My job is to watch and guide the process, keep an eye on the road ahead, be ready to grab the wheel at any time, and to apply the brakes as needed. I have a number of maps available to guide us on the journey.
Addressing traumatic material can be one of the hardest things you face. That is why I go through it with you. You may have had to go through it alone the first time, but not now. We will ride it out together and I will see you through to the other side. It is an incredible honor to be witness to such a journey!
Jumping right into core material without making sure it's safe would be like taking the Driver's Ed car over a cliff without airbags or seat belts. Before we launch into the vast unknown, it is very important to equip you with the right tools. In Driver's Ed, that means having a learner's permit, permission from parents, coming to classes, stuff like that. In trauma therapy, the tools are what keeps the work manageable and tolerable for you. For example, if you tend to get spacey or flooded by memories (these are means of adapting--on overdrive--to trauma), I help you develop ways to pull yourself out of it when I'm not there. Then when we go into the bad stuff, you won't get stuck in it. I make sure you have a full toolbox (resources) before we get into the hard stuff. In cases where you come to therapy already equipped with tools (e.g. are already in therapy elsewhere or this is your first traumatic event), shortcuts are possible but be sure to read this to better understand when this applies.
As some of you may have gathered from looking the site over, I'm not a big fan of diagnoses. People are people, not a set of symptoms laid out in a book somewhere. From what I see in practice, I believe the DSM-IV-TR (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is in the embryonic stage, superficial, and of little help in elucidating treatment--especially for those suffering from abuse, neglect, trauma, developmental wounds, and attachment failures--where there is a very clear body component. As Ron Kurtz , founder of Hakomi says, we do not view people as "patients," but rather as "an experience wanting to happen." The mind, body, and emotions are inextricably mixed and the organic embodiment of life experiences makes each person unique. We literally work at the mind-body connection to transform your core sense of self. I help you find the experiences wanting to happen, both good and in need of healing, and gently help you come into these experiences.
If you want the clinical details, here they are. I use the structural model of dissociation, phase-oriented treatment (considered standard for trauma work), and Hakomi principles of organicity, mindfulness, mind/body/spirit holism, unity, non-violence and character strategy. The sensorimotor method draws from SPI's affiliation with The Hakomi Institute and Ron Kurtz, Peter Levine, Bill Bowen, and others, and incorporates neuroscience, neurobiology, developmental and attachment research and character strategy including cutting-edge work by Bessel van der Kolk, Antonio Damasio, Joseph LeDoux, Allan Schore, Ellert Nijenhuis, Onno van der Hart, Kathy Steele, Stephen Porges, Stephen Johnson, and others.