My Practice | Jung At Heart

Life Writing

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 11:01:11 -0500

Life Writing -- Exploring Your Personal Myth

Writing your life story is an act of courage and a way to know yourself more deeply. You don't have to write an entire book to benefit from exploring yourself in depth through writing your life stories.

Stories are how our ancestors wove the fabric of meaning and existence as they made their way in their lives. Telling your story helps you to explore yourself, your roots, and your journey through life. Think about taking out your notebook to begin. "One day, this is what happened..." can be a beginning. There are so many beginnings. "Once upon a time" is a powerful beginning. The beginning is the hardest part for most people. Being part of a group helps stimulate ideas and provides support and encouragement for telling your story --

who you are now • how you got here • where you are going • the story you are living

"as our lives draw to a close, we take stock of our nearly finished tale. "The perspective is that of the creator looking back on the fruits of his or her creation and gracefully accepting what has been made," McAdams says. "If the creator rejects the creation, the creator experiences despair. The identity is not worth accepting, and it is too late to create a new one. To find integrity in life, you must look back upon your personal myth and determine that, for all its shortcomings and limitations, it is good." Dan McAdams

This is an 8-week class. Members will spend time each week writing at home. Prompts and exercises will be offered for each week to help guide writing. Members may choose to share what they have written, though there is no requirement to do so.

We will use a private discussion forum. I will post writing exercises and material for you. You may post your writing (if you wish) and read the writing of others. We will use the discussion forum for discussions about the assignments, about writing, about the process of personal exploration through writing. Our network will not be visible to anyone outside of our group and accessible only to members. Ten days after the ending of the class, I will delete all writings and discussion. Because of the format, people are free to participate each day within their own schedule, which will make it easier for everyone to participate.

We will create a safe space for this work by committing to full confidentiality when reading the work posted in this class. Feedback will be supportive, with an eye to the visions and the goals of the writers. The goal is to facilitate you telling your story and to support your intention to write things you may not have written before, not to focus on the mechanics of writing.

Basic requirements: Internet access. Members agree to commit to spending time each day (about 3- 4 hrs per week) reading and writing and commenting on the writing of other class participants and participating in discussions. I will be participating daily in discussions.

The class will be limited to 8 members. The charge for this course is $200, payable via Paypal. Individual consultations are available for an additional fee upon request. A $35.00 registration fee guarantees your place in the group; the remaining $165.00 is due by the start of the course.

Email me with questions or for further information about this group. You may contact me by using the form at the left. Please put Life Writing in the subject line.

Join us. Write your way to those stories. Let them teach you about yourself.

New group forming late March, 2012.

Write On!

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:32:55 -0400

Write On! is a group specifically for those who wish to continue writing as a means of personal exploration through writing. The group is less structured than the Life Writing and Writing to Heal groups and is open-ended. I offer prompts on a variety of topic areas each week from which you may pick and choose for what you wish to write and what you wish to share. I see the group as an opportunity to get support for the writing habit, a chance to share your writing and thoughts with others on the same or similar journey. There is space for getting to know each other, sharing ideas about writing and whatever else feels important, talking about books and films which strike you. Think of this less as a class and more as a support group for your writing self. My role is to develop writing prompts, ask leading questions now and again, help keep discussion flowing, offer resources, and generally facilitate maintaining a positive and supportive environment.

We use a private discussion forum for discussions, sharing writing, getting to know each other. Our forum is not be visible to anyone outside of our group and accessible only to members.

Because of the format, people are free to participate each day within their own schedule, which will make it easier for everyone to participate. We create a safe space for this work by committing to full confidentiality when reading the work posted in this class. Feedback is supportive, with an eye to the visions and the goals of the writers. Our goal is to facilitate personal growth, not to focus on the mechanics of writing.

The fee for the group is $50.00/month. Members must be willing to commit to participating for at least 3 months. After the first three months, you are free to remain for as long as you like. The maximum size for the group is 10 people, minimum is 5. If you are interested in joining, please let me know by using the contact form at the left. There are 2 spaces available for women in this group.

Jungian Psychotherapy

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 07:03:37 -0400

Have you been considering finding a psychotherapist? I am accepting new patients for:

. Short or Long Term Psychotherapy

. Flexible Scheduling

. Sliding Scale

. Jungian DepthTherapy

. Dream and Imaginal Work

. Personal Growth Work

. By telephone, Skype or face-to-face

"The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed." Carl Jung

It is never too late to grow. Psychotherapy that can help us change a life is as much for the person in her 60's or 70's as it is for those in their 30's and 40's.

I am fascinated by stories. The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and our lives. The stories we tell others to shape how they see and know us. In Jungian psychotherapy, together we listen to your stories and find the places where some element in the story, perhaps an old belief about yourself, keeps you from the life you want. Over time, the story changes so that the story you tell about yourself at the end, while still recognizably yours, is different from the story you told at the beginning, a revised version that you will continue to live into old age.

There are no magic tricks or tools in this kind of therapy. It works when you and I develop a good working relationship with each other. Your task is to show up at the appointed time and say what you want as honestly as you can. Tell me your dreams. Your feelings. Your wishes. Your hopes. Your sorrows. My task is to listen, listen as deeply as I can, and offer you my feelings, ideas, intuitions that come in response to your stories.

The goal of Jungian psychotherapy is to enable you to live a life that most fully expresses your own nature. Each of us has a unique self which is trying to unfold. When that unfolding is blocked we may become anxious, or depressed or angry and we may have trouble in our relationships. You and I together develop a caring dialogue which will help you first to understand where you are blocked and then to overcome your blocks. Through our work, you can expect to feel happier and more fulfilled in your relationships, in your job and in your creative life.

"If attention is directed to the unconscious, the unconscious will yield up its contents, and these in turn will fructify the conscious like a fountain of living water. For consciousness is just as arid as the unconscious if the two halves of our psychic life are separated." Carl Jung

Depth psychotherapy is usually not brief therapy. It takes time to explore the complexities of feeling and experience that make up a person's own unique past, as well as present manifestations of that past. People who enter Jungian psychotherapy make an important personal commitment.

Jungian psychotherapy is not only for those with diagnosable psychological problems, like depression or anxiety. It is also valuable for personal growth. Through Jungian psychotherapy you may in discover a more authentic and personally meaningful way of living your life. Using Jungian psychotherapy for personal growth also uses dreamwork as a core ingredient in moving toward psychological maturity.

Although in most respects working face to face is desirable, when distance or other circumstances make that difficult or impossible, then working by telephone is a very workable alternative.

I currently have openings for prospective patients who wish to work by telephone or face-to-face -- we can schedule your first session within a week. If you have any questions or would like to know more about my practice or me, please use the contact form on the left to email me. I will call you if you provide a phone number or reply via email as you wish. Or you may call me:

+1 (207) 956-0299 Eastern Standard Time (Greenwich Mean Time -5 hours)

Click here for information about fees.

Man's task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious. – C.G. Jung

Policies & Guidelines

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:09:36 -0400

Following is an overview of policies and procedures regarding appointments, fees, cancellations, etc.

1. Cheryl Fuller, Ph.D. is a Jungian psychotherapist specializing in individual psychotherapy. Customarily once an agreement to work together has been made, patients make a commitment which may last from a few months to several years.

2. I do not offer emergency care, crisis intervention, court-mandated therapy, or case management services. I am available via email or telephone to established patients.

3. Full payment is expected for missed sessions and for sessions cancelled on short notice. This is a practical measure as patients contract for an available time slot which remains theirs until they leave therapy.

4. Fees are payable via PayPal. or by check at the time of the session. For those electing to work via telephone, a Paypal invoice is sent after each session or patients may elect to pay each month for the full month.

5. Patients electing to work via telephone will pay any long distance charges assessed by their carrier. Contact via Skype is available.

6. Patients may email Cheryl between sessions. Limitations on use of email will be discussed as needed.

Social Media Policy

The proliferation of social media creates new issues for therapists and psychotherapy patients. Following is an outline of my policies related to use of social media.

° Friending

I do not accept friend requests from current or former patients. This holds true on Facebook and LinkedIn. I feel that adding clients as friends on these websites blurs the boundaries of our therapeutic relationship. If you have questions about this, please feel free to bring them up when we meet and I’m happy to talk more about it.

I make an exception with Google+ where I have a circle for current and former patients and others who connect with me in a professional context. In this way I can share news of my work related activities, information about books of interest and other things similar to what I discuss here.

° Twitter

I do not follow current or former clients on blogs or Twitter. If there are things you wish to share with me from your online life, I strongly encourage you to bring them into our sessions where we can process them together, during the therapy hour.

° Interacting via social media sites

Please do not use messaging on websites such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to contact me. If you need to contact me between sessions, the best way to do so is by phone or direct email.

° Use of Search Engines

It is NOT a regular part of my practice to search for clients on Google or other search engines.

° Email

If you choose to communicate with me by email, please be aware that all emails are retained in the logs of your and my Internet service providers. While it is unlikely that someone will be looking at these logs, they are, in theory, available to be read by the system administrator(s) of the Internet service provider.

Thanks to Dr. Keely Kolmes for her permission to modify her form. Updated 9/5/2011

Fees

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 11:46:17 -0400

Are you concerned about whether or not you can afford therapy?

I understand this concern, especially in these times. Many of my previous patients have felt the same way. Those that have made the decision to invest in themselves, however, have found that their lives have improved immensely.

Therapy is not magic. It isn't quick. It is work. It does work.

50 minutes Individual Psychotherapy -- $110.00; 90 minute sessions -- $155.00 In general, I make every effort to assure that cost is not a barrier to our work. Don't be hesitant to discuss what will work for you.

I do not accept third party payment/health insurance. This allows me to have a sliding scale for fees according to your circumstances and ability to pay. Once we decide to work together, we will settle on a fee which we will negotiate together.

Writing for Healing

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 09:48:29 -0500

Coming in February 1, 2012: Writing For Healing, an eight week program.

Everyone is healing from something— divorce, job loss, loneliness, failed relationships. Maybe you find yourself hating your work. Or yearning to live somewhere else. Or you struggle with some other matter of heart.

Perhaps you find yourself looking in the mirror and telling yourself how much you hate your body or some part of your body? Perhaps ageing finds you at odds with your body -- the wrinkles, changes in skin and hair, sagging. Or you may be struggling with an illness or disability.

Writing for Healing invites you to explore and work on resolving matters of the heart and body. It offers a chance to relieve stress, find acceptance and hope, and begin the healing process and explore your inner life. We will do this through writing with exercises designed to help you explore the matters of your life and help you to better understand where you are and where you want to go. And doing this in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere with others also working on healing.

Writing helps to relieve stress and sort out our thoughts and feelings. Writing For Healing teaches how to use writing as a major tool for healing and inner exploration. Please note: While writing is highly therapeutic, this class does not offer group therapy or individual counseling. We share stories, but we do not seek advice or try to advise one another.

We will use a private discussion forum. I will post writing exercises and material to read. You may post your writing (if you wish) and read the writing of others. We will use the discussion forum for discussions about the assignments, about body issues, about writing, about the process of personal exploration through writing. Our network will not be visible to anyone outside of our group and accessible only to members. Ten days after the ending of the class, I will delete all writings and discussion.

Because of the format, people are free to participate each day within their own schedule, which will make it easier for everyone to participate.We will create a safe space for this work by committing to full confidentiality when reading the work posted in this class. Feedback will be supportive, with an eye to the visions and the goals of the writers. Our goal is to facilitate healing and personal growth, not to focus on the mechanics of writing.

Members agree to commit to spending time each day (about 2- 4 hrs per week) reading and writing and commenting on the writing of other class participants and participating in discussions. I will be participating daily in discussions.

The class will be limited to 8 members. The charge for this course is $200, payable via Paypal. Individual consultations are available for an additional fee upon request.

Email me with questions or for further information about this group. You may contact me by using the form at the left. Please put Writing for Healing in the subject line. I ask that you make an advance payment of $35.00 to secure your place in the class.

Writing For Healing will begin February 1, 2012.

Register now. One space remaining!

More research on Long Distance Therapy

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:24:02 -0400

For a number of years now I have worked with a fair portion of my patients by telephone. At first when it was suggested to me as a way to continue my practice when I moved, I was skeptical but now, seven years later, I find that therapy by telephone not only works, in some cases it works better than face to face meetings. So I was not surprised to see this recently appear in the NY Times:

A new analysis of phone therapy research by Northwestern University shows that when patients receive psychotherapy for depression over the phone, more than 90 percent continue with it. The research showed that the average attrition rate in the telephone therapy was only 7.6 percent, compared to nearly 50 percent in face-to-face therapy. The researchers also found that telephone therapy was just as effective at reducing depressive symptoms as face-to-face treatment.

The therapeutic space which develops when the work is done by telephone differs from that when therapist and patient sit face to face, but it is therapeutic space nonetheless. When my patients call. I am sitting in my customary place, just as if they were sitting in front of me in my office. And I suggest that my patient similarly be in the same place each time. We then create the space between us -- the sound of our voices and the time creating a temenos between us. Therapy works because it is contained. There is confidntiality, there is a fee, and a set time. Our work together is contained in this virtual space, just as it would be were we both in my office.

Phone psychotherapy eliminates travel and waiting time, and allows more flexible scheduling. It makes psychotherapy available to patients who are unable to travel, including many of the physically disabled and those whose symptoms, depression or agoraphobia, make them reluctant to leave home and for those whose work takes them away from home frequently. And in a time when gasoline costs are a significant part of household budgets, it saves the expense of driving. It also makes therapy readily available to people living in rural areas with few if any therapists available.