Session Lengths
There are several session lengths available:
2 hour Introductory Session, via zoom or in person
This session will give you an opportunity to meet me, see what the session room feels and looks like and get a real sense of whether this work might be for you. I will talk you through the archetypal framework in which I work.There will be an opportunity for you to experience getting a part of yourself out on the carpet, and plenty of time for questions.
5 hour session
Your first Healing The Shadow session (either face to face or via zoom) can be 5 hours long. This allows you to go deeply in to the issue you wish to work on, and to work at the speed and depth that is appropriate and safe for you, with plenty of breaks. One of the most important aspects of this type of shadow work work is the deep listening I provide: a confidential, empathic space devoted to you and the issues that you are wishing to work on.
If your time is limited, or if you wish to take the work more slowly, you can also split this first shadow work session over two days: 3 hours and 3 hours.
Follow up appointments can be 2 - 5 hours long
You also have the option to book a series of sessions so please, during your initial email to me, or on your initial 45 minute call with me (please click here to read more about booking an initial call) ask me about this and we can arrange a bespoke package of work to suit you best.
Other Information
You can use a 5hr session to start working on a specific issue and then return for a series of shorter sessions. Some clients book a series of 5 hours sessions over a period of a few months. There is considerable flexibility around these options.
Shadow work can be deep and powerful. My experience and training supports me to hold what you bring to a session safely and strongly. The timing and structure is largely guided by what you want to explore on the day, and by your sense of what is safe and best for you throughout the time you working with me.
Before your first Healing The Shadow session, you will have completed a detailed Confidential Information Form. In your session I will start by giving you space to speak at length about what is going on for you, exploring what you want to work on, and what you are bringing to the session. During this time we can discuss your family history and significant events in your life, so that I can facilitate you safely later on when we move on to the carpet work. .
Every session is adapted to suit what is best and most appropriate for you.
You may choose to make use of the time in a 5 hour session to talk and be deeply listened to. This might be the first time that you have been listened to in this way.
I will also spend as much time as is needed working with the parts of you that see risks to doing this type of work. In this form of shadow work, we hold a belief that your sense of what is safe and what is best for you is of fundamental value in your work.
Shadow work sessions are known for providing a shame free space for you to explore parts of yourself.
Working with shadow parts of us
A fundamental premise in Healing The Shadow is that we are made up of ‘parts’ and that these parts can be uncomfortable and pushed away by us, or in fact totally hidden from us - in shadow. The concept of the shadow was first termed by Carl Jung - he defined it as ‘that which we are unconscious of’. In shadow work, I work alongside you to uncover and explore these often deeply suppressed and hidden parts. In time, the work that we do in a session changes both how we experience the world around us, and also how we show up in the world. It can give us more authentic and deeper connections with others.
Carpet work
A primary intention in Healing The Shadow is to discover and explore parts of us that we don’t feel comfortable with. You will be invited to step ‘into’ parts of you, and speak ‘from’ rather than ‘about’ them.
We do this by representing parts of you (and relevant people/institutions in your life) on the carpet. This is a large rug on the floor that will represent your inner world for the duration of the shadow work session. We use coloured cloths to precisely place and distinguish different parts of you and the people/institutions who are relevant.
Healing & Transformation
By giving generous amounts of time and interest to different parts of us, we start to bring them out of shadow and into our awareness. We can work together so that you may begin to bring about changes in your inner world. We find that the psyche, or unconscious, does not recognise the difference between the facilitated, symbolic and energetic work we do on the carpet and what happens in our day to day ‘real’ life. This allows for deep exploration, healing and transformation to occur in a ‘safe’ space - where there are no real world consequences.
I always suggest to my clients that they allow some time after a session to rest, reflect and perhaps journal, because the work we do together may be very deep and need to be integrated after our session is complete. We will discuss this, and the need for support once this journey has begun, before we meet - so that I know what/ who you have in place to offer support going forward.
Summary
Much of our life force, power and energy are in shadow, and they show up in the world in ‘shadowy’ ways… these parts of us are usually still trying to keep us safe by using ideas and methods that we developed when we were very young, deeply vulnerable and genuinely powerless. They are not behaviours and beliefs that we as adults might choose if we had more control over them.
Ethics and therapeutic Approach
All Healing The Shadow practitioners are professionally insured and work within a strict code of ethics:
Clicking here will take you to our Code of Ethics
For information on the therapeutic approach used in Healing The Shadow sessions, please click here: Our therapeutic approach
Getting in touch
To discuss shadow work in more depth please click here to contact me. There is no charge for an initial 45 minute call to discuss what you would like to explore, and to find out more about what I am offering. This page shows you how to book a session and this lists my hourly charges.