What to Expect in Session
Working with a Holistic Psychotherapist
A complimentary 15 minute phone screening will be conducted to see if working together will be the right fit for you. If you decide you'd like to move forward, we book an initial intake appointment. This appointment usually lasts 50 minutes to an hour. I will ask comprehensive questions related to what issues are bothering you, your family history, relationships, and overall experiences with therapy and your expectations. At the end of this session, we will establish what your intended goals are in our work together. After the first session, our calls will be more fluid and dynamic depending on what is showing up for you that day.
Initial Evaluation
Weekly sessions are recommended in the beginning of treatment in order to cultivate trust and create a safe space for our therapeutic relationship. Once our relationship has been established and effective progress has been made towards your goals, we check in about length and frequency of sessions. This depends on the individual and their unique needs.
working together
Being a relational therapist means that the foundation of our healing work centers around the importance of how our therapeutic relationship mirrors your relationships outside of our space. For example, if you are not used to vocalizing your wants and needs in relationships, what would it be like to authentically ask for what you need or to vocalize how you are honestly feeling in a session? Other times sessions can look like traditional “talk therapy,” which would entail processing things that are important, distressing or stressful to you within the safe container of our therapeutic relationship.
Other times sessions might focus more specifically on the utilization of one or more of the types of interventions below.
How our Therapeutic Relationship Works
The breath can be used as a powerful tool to help activate many different states. Learning how to breathe with intention can help communicate to your body that you are safe. Other breathing techniques can help to activate different core emotions in your body that have not been felt such as fear, anger and sadness in order to be released. I will teach you how to use the breath to help activate your nervous system to calm down states of anxiety, as well as release emotions in the body.
When applicable, meditation and visualization is used in sessions to help someone activate a certain emotional state. Meditations and visualizations will be unique to what’s needed in the moment and can also be recorded for future reference.
Breathwork
Meditation & Mindfulness Based Interventions
EMDR is a structured therapy treatment that encourages the brain to reprocess trauma. When we sleep, our brains go through REM sleep where we process and make meaning out of memories. Sometimes when we go through trauma(s), our brain and body are unable to release the distress because we don’t feel safe, which creates a maladaptive meaning out of the issue, feeling like the body is stuck in the trauma, or trying to protect itself from the feeling. EMDR uses bilateral stimulation to experience reprocessing the event in an adaptive way. Similarly to a wound in the body that heals on its’ own, the brain can naturally turn towards mental health and release what is no longer serving you when we simply allow it to reprocess what happened in a safe space.
EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing):
Learn more about the EMDR International Association, which sets standards for EMDR therapy and offers resources to ensure effective treatment for trauma and mental health challenges.
One of the foundational ways that we can heal is through understanding how your unique experiences shape how you feel and how your body functions. One of the main ways we can do this is through understanding how our autonomic nervous system works. When our autonomic nervous system thinks we are in a perpetual state of agitation, feeling unsafe, it can cause us to feel stuck, depressed or in “shut down mode”; anxiety PTSD/flight or flight. I will help guide you to become more attuned to these states as well as provide tools to begin to regulate your nervous system and create more balance and empowerment in your life.
Nervous System Regulation Through the Polyvegal Theory
The body is always communicating with us and as such it can be a powerful integral part of the healing process. Tuning into the language of your body through somatic interventions can provide us with information like - why your jaw tenses up when talking about your job or why you experience a lump in your throat when you talk about your relationship with your father. Becoming attuned to your body and learning specific movements when you are feeling stuck in certain states such as anxiety, shut down mode or feeling an intense emotion is an amazing way to heal. The importance of what triggers your emotions is closely linked to being present with the body and learning the skills to tap into these emotions your body is experiencing before reacting. While it might seem simple in theory, the practice of slowing down and sitting with and being curious about all of the sensations in your body is an important part of connecting with yourself. Experiencing this practice with someone in a safe therapeutic environment can be incredibly healing.
Somatic & Emotionally Focused Interventions
"I've worked with Jenna for nearly two years now, and I'd struggle to relate all the ups and downs Jenna has helped me through and helped me learn from over that time. As there's too much, let's sum up: "Therapy is the most important thing I've done in my life so far, and thanks to Jenna's intuition, patience, kindness and encouragement, I've made it so much further than I ever thought possible"
CHARLES
"Jenna Mamorsky has a beautiful gift in her ability to make others feel seen and support them with genuine compassion and respect. I've been working with Jenna for more than three years and it is difficult to overstate how vital her continuous support and guidance have been to me. With clarity and groundedness, she has helped me navigate the most difficult years of my life. Wherever you are in life, I cannot recommend therapy with Jenna enough."
ERIN
"I have been working with Jenna for four years and I can not express how much she has had a positive impact on me. She is caring, compassionate, thoughtful, and patient. She has helped me through many changes in my life - both good and bad - and approaches each with support and grace. I recommend her wholeheartedly to anyone who is in search or is questioning whether to start therapy for the first time like I was four years ago."
LYDIA
"I’ve been working with Jenna for the past year. She helped me navigate a time of a lot of change, pain, and struggle. When I was often feeling lost and scared she would help me feel grounded, supported, and safe. This was my first encounter with therapy and I couldn’t feel better about working with Jenna. I feel continuously cared for, challenged, and encouraged in our work… and I feel at home. I look forward to continuing to work with her."
JAKE