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Dance Movement Therapy

Dance/movement Therapy is a body-based form of mental health support.
As a dance/movement psychotherapist, I believe that we communicate with our bodies as well as with our words and that many of the experiences we have are stored in our bodies - some of those experiences we are able to integrate and process through the brain and with our words. Other experiences, not so much - they are stored in our bodies until we have the ability, tools, and resources to process and cope with them. Through movement, I support my clients in developing those tools and resources.

          ~ Jennifer Sterling, W&S Dance Movement Therapist

From the moment you walk into the room, together, we work to create an environment of safety and comfort, a space where you can be challenged in a supported way. I use an eclectic approach to therapy, drawing on different theories and frameworks that might best suit your needs and goals. Depending on your interests, comfort levels, and ways of learning, we will use imagery, movement, art, music, written word and worksheets to more deeply understand and adjust your responses to stress, trauma, and relationships. Movement is powerful, at times intense. I use the wisdom of the body to help you honor your strengths while building on limitations. Through the use of movement, both subtle and expansive, we can gain an integrated and deeper understanding of YOU. 

          ~ Alexa Palmer, W&S Dance Movement Therapist

Drama Therapy

Drama therapy is an action-based psychotherapy that incorporates creative steps toward change. With roots in the healing principles of theatre and applied psychology, drama therapy allows us to embody and enact the change we seek. We may role play, improvise, design masks or puppets, write or recite poetry, dance or move our bodies, sing or shout, act out past scenarios or future conversations, play with toys or dolls...the possibilities depend on your comfort level, needs, and desires. We may talk, meditate, or create ritual or artwork together. I am here for you as your guide, to explore your present and co-create a new or different reality. I will work with you to engage the fullest you and attain your goals both inside and outside of the therapeutic space.

          ~ Atara Vogelstein, W&S Drama Therapist

Art Therapy

I consider it an honor and a privilege to gain a glimpse into my clients' creative inner worlds via art therapy. In order to arrive at a place of mutual trust where the deeper work can begin, creating a safe, warm, and compassionate therapeutic space is of utmost importance to me. When working individually with clients, I gauge their comfort level and interest in art media, and then co-create a collaborative treatment plan that feels right for them, to be re-visited as needs and circumstances shift. Therapy often involves building an "emotional toolbox" using metaphor or art media to assess what's working in their lives right now and what no longer serves them.  I believe when someone is engaged in a creative act--from drawing with oil pastels, piecing together collage cut-outs, molding clay figures, creative writing, doodling, even sharing memories or dreams--an aspect of their authentic self is being revealed in the process. Here is where deeper healing and growth can take place. 

In my Open Art Studio Women's Support groups, the emphasis is on art media (drawing, painting, collage, and mixed media) as well as art-making within an allotted time frame as an anchor. Adapted from art therapy pioneer Pat Allen's methodology, I encourage creative writing before and after art-making to help clients both tune into their intentions and reflect back on their creative process with a degree of objectivity, as a "witness."  Mindfully making art together in a nonjudgmental space guided by own's own intentionality can be a powerful and transformative experience, as well as an important exercise in self care.

          ~ Sharon Itkoff Nacache, W&S Art Therapist

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