Why Work Experientially?
There is a very particular, almost magical moment in any experiential psychotherapy session: when we stop talking about our client’s issues and take the leap into actively guiding them through an experience to help them explore their situation in a new way. That may take the form of prompting them to visualize a relevant situation, to speak something important out loud, or perhaps to move in a particular way. Whether we guide them through a two-chair exercise or tell them something we know is likely to evoke a visceral response to which we then have them attend mindfully, we never know exactly what will come out of any given experiential prompt. What we do know is that prompting an experience activates the limbic brain, providing a new lens through which clients can experience their situation from a novel perspective. In that moment, both client and therapist sense the leap into the mystery and depth of the unknown. That’s where things get creative and fun, and the work takes a turn and goes deep… fast.