Timing and structure of a session
Being Listened to, and talking about risks
Timing
Shadow work can be deep and powerful. These sessions are strongly held, and the timing and structure is 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. This is a space where you can explore parts of yourself without any ‘real world’ consequences.
A first shadow work session (either face to face or via zoom) is usually 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. The deep listening that you will receive in this type of shadow work session can be highly beneficial in its own right, but there will also be plenty of time for you to work ‘on the carpet’, should you choose to (see below).
If your time is limited, or for emotional reasons, you may also split this first shadow work session in to two 3 hour sections.
You might choose to use a 5hr Healing The Shadow session to start working on a specific issue and then return for a series of shorter sessions - to best suit the time that you have available, and the explorations that you wish to make. Others book a series of 5 hours sessions over a period of a few months. There is considerable flexibility around these options.
Structure of the session
Before your first shadow work session, you will have completed a detailed Confidential Information Form. On the day I will introduce you to what working on the carpet looks like, and initially you will spend a couple of hours talking, exploring what you want to work on and what you are bringing. There will be time for me to ask you about your family history and relevant significant life events, to help me facilitate you safely.
Then there is time for you, should you choose, to be facilitated in work ‘on the carpet’ (see below).
These timings are approximate and every session is adapted to suit what is best and most appropriate for you, on the day.
Alongside all of this, we take as many breaks as you like.
Listening, and risks
Often we need to make use of the time in a 5hr shadow work session to talk and be listened to. This can be deeply beneficial in itself. For many of us, this might be the first time that we have been listened to in this way.
We will also spend as much time as is needed discussing and working with the parts of you that see risks for yourself in doing the work. In this form of shadow work, we believe that your sense of what is safe and what is best for you is of fundamental value.
Shadow work sessions are known for providing a shame free space for us to explore parts of ourselves.
Introductory sessions
Introductory sessions
It is possible to book a shorter introductory session, 2 hours long. Such a session will give you an opportunity to meet me, to see what the session room feels and looks like and to get a real sense of whether this work might be for you. There will also be an opportunity for you to get one or two parts out on the carpet and plenty of time for questions.
Please contact me if you would like to find out more about booking an introductory session, which are charged at the same hourly rate as longer sessions, and which I can offer in Totnes or via zoom.
Working with shadow parts of us
Shadow parts
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
On the carpet
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 and Transformation
Healing and 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.
It is recommended that you allow some time, after a session, to rest, reflect and / or journal as the work can be deep. 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 and films
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.
Getting in touch
Contact me
To discuss Healing The Shadow and your individual needs please contact me. There is no charge for an initial 45 min call to discuss what you would like to bring and to find out more about this type of shadow work.
All Healing The Shadow practitioners are professionally insured.
Ethics and Therapeutic Approach
We work within a strict code of ethics:
For information on the therapeutic approach used in HTS sessions, please see here: