The The Art of Living Medicine is a therapeutic approach that takes personal values into consideration to cultivate a soulful connection to health and healing that is meaningful to the client. Each individual is seen as a living work of art whereby their life is their masterpiece. Healing happens in relationship to self, others, and the environment in which a person lives. Cultivating a safe atmosphere for healing and transformation begins with trust. AoLM Therapy Practices are reverent and respectful, alive and life-giving. Together, in the containment of a safe therapeutic setting, therapist and client explore layers of personal experience as root causes of suffering are unveiled gently and with compassion. In a session, we begin with curiosity and natural inquiry to address the symptoms that carry the most energy and often hold a person back from being fully and freely self-expressed. Clients are active participants in their own healing as they build resilience and gather resources to create a new experience. The Art of Living Medicine draws upon the process of alchemy as a metaphor for transformation. Once the safe container is established, a whole-person centered therapy may include any one or a combination of viable therapeutic practices which help to ease suffering and encourage the client's full self-expression. In this way, a person learns how to paint in broad strokes as well as attend to fine details to create a life story that can be lived with and loved in full color including an embrace of shadow and light.
The Art of Living Medicine was inspired by my grandfather, Simeon Petrokavitch. An Artist and Russian immigrant, he changed his name to Samuel Patrick at the height of McCarthyism and the "Red Scare" in Los Angeles. "Do not be afraid of shadow;" he used to say, "Shadow accentuates Light and adds depth and dimension to the piece." What began as a metaphor that helped me navigate my way through difficult times became the inspiration for my life's work. Every client I see is a living work of art whereby each individual is the artist working with the interplay of shadow and light and drawing from an innate well of Creativity as a powerful force.
The Art of Living Medicine as a therapeutic approach came about naturally through lived experience. Depth Psychology was introduced to me as a child through fairytales & myth, dreams & story-telling. For nearly 20 years I was mentored by an acupuncturist who accompanied me through the heartache & healing of young adulthood into midlife. She taught me how to meditate, listen to my Heart, and attend to subtle, yet profound influences of Energy. That Wisdom is woven into my Reiki training and personal understanding of a Higher Power. Compassion and an ever-expansive curiosity about the Body's Wisdom is central to my therapeutic practice.
~ Baruch Spinoza ~
"Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you,
for that alone is sure..."
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