Psychotherapy for the Body and Mind

Psychotherapy is a valuable resource for many individuals dealing with psychological and emotional pain. People seek help when they feel stuck, overwhelmed, or distressed, and when their usual ways of coping don’t seem to work anymore. Psychotherapy holds the potential for developing new ways of being, thinking, feeling and behaving in the world.

My particular way of working integrates Body-Oriented Psychotherapy, Gestalt, psychodynamic approaches and an understanding of attachment theory. What this means is that I believe that as humans, from infancy and throughout our lives, we are in an ongoing process of development. The hope in this is that in healthy environments, like the therapeutic context, we can continue to grow and heal, regardless of how old we are or how deep our emotional pain. I see my role as a psychotherapist as helping my clients recognize and remove the blocks to growth, the ways of thinking, feeling and relating that keep you from feeling alive, connected and free to really live life.

I also believe that the process of therapy is not a primarily intellectual endeavor. Yes, we give language, make meaning, and experience insight at a mental level. But change ultimately emerges through lived experience. Because of this my therapeutic work is experiential, and works in large part with emotions, the vehicle through which energy moves in our systems. This process is rich, deepening, and works with the how of living more than the why. Integrating both verbal and body-based techniques helps people experience greater contact with themselves by deepening into their experience in each moment, feeling more connected, 'real' and alive. Insight comes, but the greatest change involves developing the capacity to be more present with yourself and in your life, and experiencing transformation through a collaborative and empathetic therapeutic relationship. I engage with a sensitive and curious attitude, listening deeply, supporting your coming to know yourself in helpful and expanding ways.

This work is particularly helpful if you are:

• Dealing with significant or persistent symptoms of depression or anxiety.
• Experiencing intense emotions such as despair, distress, rage or grief, and need an appropriate outlet to process these feelings.
• Experiencing significant physical symptoms such as pain, anxiety, muscular tension or headaches related to stress.
• Facing major identity issues or life transitions.
• Struggling with relationships, including challenges around intimacy and sexuality.
• Wanting to access more aliveness and creativity, and develop new ways of being in the world.
• Challenged by unresolved childhood or family issues or trauma recovery.
• Feeling blocked or stuck, and can’t seem to figure out how to let yourself really move into life more fully.
• Inhibited around feeling and expressing certain emotions, such as sadness or anger, or numb and unable to experience or name what you are feeling.
• Needing to process loss and grief in a more embodied and expressive way.

The specific process of therapy will vary according to each individual, reflecting who you are, what issues you are facing and what you hope to find through therapy. I have a profound respect for the uniqueness of each individual, and appreciation for both the desire to get better and the fear of opening to painful or distressing feelings. Together we can find a pathway that brings healing and greater pleasure into your life.

Therapy Services

Individual Psychotherapy
Working individually provides a process where you can come to feel and know yourself more deeply, develop language for and understanding of your experience, and work through restrictive psychological and physical patterns that inhibit your growth and aliveness.

Couples Therapy
I work with couples around issues of connection, differentiation, sexuality, emotional intimacy, conflict, and communication, among others. Essential to the process is supporting individual growth in the context of fostering a satisfying and fulfilling intimate relationship.

Group Therapy
Group Therapy offers an experimental space to explore your relationship to your self and to others, and to learn more about your ways of relating, connecting and perceiving. Issues often highlighted through group process include: belonging; dealing with differences; conflict; giving and receiving; and family patterns, among others. I offer both verbal-based therapy groups as well as movement-based personal growth groups (see Authentic Movement) depending on your needs and interests.

Body Oriented Psychotherapy
Body Oriented Psychotherapy is an emotionally-focused somatic therapeutic approach that is particularly helpful for individuals recovering from trauma, for those who are experiencing stress-related somatic disorders, or for people who have difficulty feeling or identifying their emotions. We can explore working through this body-based approach, utilizing breath and/or movement, to open and unravel blockages to living more freely and fully (see Working with the Body).

If you are interested in finding out more about any of these services, or to schedule an appointment, feel free to contact me at (206) 778-9183 or at authenticmovement@hotmail.com.

Working with the Body

Psychological patterns that constrict or inhibit us also live inside our bodies, in the ways we breathe, hold tension, or respond to stress. In the process of growing up we develop ways of adapting to the world around us, our best attempts to keep us safe and secure given the environments we live in. These patterns, essentially functional and helpful at the time they developed, may later in life become restrictive. We may find that at some point we are stuck or trapped by old ways of feeling, being, relating, thinking, reacting, and breathing, but can’t seem to find our way out. Working therapeutically with both the body and mind offers a profound potential for changing deeply held ways of being in the world.

My way of working with the body is based on the work of Wilhelm Reich as well as Authentic Movement (see Authentic Movement). These truly holistic modalities allow for working directly with the lived histories within our bodies, with the deepest processes of the self, and generate real change in how we breathe, see, move, feel, think and behave. Working directly with the body brings us to real experiential knowing of how we contain and inhibit the experience and expression of our life energy, and, in the safety of the collaborative relationship between therapist and client, we can begin to open ourselves up to new ways of being. The constrictive patterns that kept us safe and secure in the past can be replaced with a safety and security grounded in a present day ability to feel, express and act from our core. We can actually learn and practice new ways of living, enhancing the potential for greater freedom and aliveness.

Guided by your desires and goals for therapy, I invite you to attend to your embodied experience in the present moment, to sensation, emotion, thought, imagery, and impulse. Working directly with the body, for example by increasing inhalation and exhalation and observing what occurs emotionally and physically as your body breathes more fully, allows more deeply held feelings and thoughts to be worked with and explored. This process often results in the evocation of both subtle and strong emotions, as well as sensations, which is integral to the process of change. In order to develop the capacity to fully feel, express, and modulate our emotions, feelings of pain, fear, anger, shame, grief, and longing that have been buried must come to the surface, be processed and integrated. Trapped on the other side of these painful emotions are the emotions of deep pleasure, excitement, curiosity, and joy - emotions that become felt and accessible once again as the energy that is bound in keeping painful emotions at bay gets released and can freely flow. This allowing of expression of what has been inhibited in a safe and supportive environment is a major component of the change process. Deepening contact with one’s body, with one’s moment-to-moment mind-body experience, expands how you feel, know and express your self in the world.

Together we work at a pace that best facilitates your growth, supporting a sense of empowerment and integration even as old patterns are being worked through and released. Through this process you can experience better contact with your body and with your feelings, a more satisfying range of expression, and be better able to act in accordance with your core desires and needs. Over time the symptoms that brought you into therapy will diminish and constricting patterns will be unraveled, allowing you to move from a place of contraction and emotional pain to expansion and growth.

Authentic Movement

Authentic Movement is a simple yet profound practice of self-awareness and discovery. Listening to the body, and finding movement from within, we explore the dance of presence, witnessing ourselves and others as awake and open as possible.
enjoyment.

There are no Authentic Movement Groups offered at this time. 

Susan Baum MA LMHC is a psychotherapist in private practice working with individuals, couples and groups. Her approach to Authentic Movement is informed by her training in psychology, and her experience as a mover guides her holistic and body-based approach to psychotherapy. Susan brings her warmth and lively spirit to what she does, and provides an attentive and experienced presence that supports meaningful personal work.

Fees and Appointments

I have appointments Monday through Thursday during general working hours. My fee is $115 per 50-minute session if you are paying at the time of service, and I typically meet with clients on a weekly basis. Longer sessions may also be arranged and will be prorated accordingly. I have several openings in my practice for sliding scale and on occasion may be able to offer a reduced fee. I do offer an initial consultation at no charge as a way for us to meet and see if we feel comfortable working with one another. Some insurance plans cover psychotherapy with a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and you may be able to be reimbursed in part for our sessions. I am a preferred provider with First Choice Health Network, Regence, Aetna and some Kaiser plans that utilize a particular network of providers. I am also able to bill other insurance companies if you have out of network benefits.

To set up an appointment contact Susan Baum MA LMHC at (206) 778-9183 or at authenticmovement@hotmail.com