My Approach to Helping
I believe therapy is about getting to know yourself on a more intimate level. I listen in a caring, compassionate, and non-judgmental way that allows you to see more clearly what your issues are about. I hold space with the awareness that you are a soul with the wisdom and intelligence to deal with whatever life is offering you at the moment. I am highly skilled with working with people looking for self-actualization, therapists in the making, and those interested in self-growth and transformation.
I specialize in holistic studies, I marry the physical (somatic) work with the transpersonal (spiritual). I look at the self as comprising five layers - physical, energy, mental-emotional, intuitive, and bliss. I work together with you as I remain aware that your liberation is bound up with mine.
I am very creative and I bring that into the therapy sessions. We might sit and talk or walk in nature, draw, paint, play with sand tray toys, move about, dance, get centered through meditation, guided visualization or relax the body systematically. I often do inner child work, role plays and empty chair work.
More Info About My Practice
I use the five layers or sheaths called Koshas that Yoga believes the Self comprises. The physical body that most consider to be the Self is only the densest layer. Subtler than that is the energy or Pranic layer. Then comes the emotional-mental layer also seen by some as colors corresponding to different feelings. The intellectualintuitive or the wisdom layer is next, more subtle and more expansive than the prior three and encompassing them too. Finally, the bliss layer is the subtlest of them all and it encompasses all the other layers and extends over and beyond them. This is the framework I operate out of.
I have completed a MA in Counseling Psychology from Holistic Studies department, JFKU. This was my second masters. Prior to that I did a MA in Clinical Psychology from India and worked as a psychotherapist in India for several years. Additionally, I have delved into several meditation techniques, yoga, transpersonal psychology and somatic work.
I use writing, painting, acting and dance for creative expression in personal life and in therapy. I have a website of my artworks and writings www.Digmeart.com
I am an adjunct faculty at John F. Kennedy School of Psychology at National University. I enjoy teaching 'Body-Oriented Psychotherapy' and offering an experiential course in 'Group Therapy'.
I play the role of the Creative Director for 'Body Wisdom', an organization that offers workshops and provides trainings in the world of psychotherapy and counseling as well as to the general public.
I served pro-bono as the Clinical Director of 'A Home Within' for their Santa Clara chapter from 2014 to 2020. It is the only national organization that provides open ended individual psychotherapy to former and current foster youth free of cost.
My spiritual practice is an essential element of who I am. I serve at the Self Realization Fellowship, Los Gatos Center in whatever way I can.
