Dawn Altman Psychotherapy and Wellness

This quote by Carl Jung perfectly summarizes the basis of analytic psychology. What we are unaware of in our psyche is actually in control of our lives and causes us to act out in unhealthy patterns in our work, in our relationships with others, and most importantly, in our relationship with ourselves. How many times have you found yourself attracting the same type of relationship over and over, with unhappy results? How many times have you found yourself getting activate...d by situations with friends, partners, or at work? Have you found yourself listlessly going through the motions of life, knowing that you have more potential within, but having difficulty tapping into it? Some of this can be attributed to shadow, or the parts of ourselves that we are ashamed of, the parts we don’t want ourselves or others to know. Another part can be attributed to repressed and suppressed emotions that were difficult to process, so they get pushed down into the depths of the unconscious. Most often, this stems from childhood when we did not have the capabilities or emotional bandwidth to handle what was happening. Whatever we are unaware of, whatever we are actively avoiding, will always show up in our personal lives, and as Carl Jung stated, we will call it fate. So how do we tap into the unconscious? My first recommendation would be to pay close attention to your dreams. When you are asleep, your conscious defenses are not at work, and the unconscious shows itself in images through your dreams. I recommend a dream journal to all of my clients, to be kept at the bedside along with a pen. Upon awakening, write down all aspects of the dream that you can remember, along with the feeling tone of the dream. Give yourself quiet time and space to be with aspects of the dream, and allow thought to emerge from a quiet place. Writing is another powerful way that we can tap into the unconscious aspects of our minds and hearts. Having a sacred place where you can bring all your feelings, thoughts, memories, and sorrows can help to release the emotion from the body, freeing up space for vibrant living. I recognize that we are a culture of quick fixes. It seems that every psychologist or expert is writing a book on how to heal from the past, or teaching us how to live. This is all well and good, but in my experience, there is no substitute for the difficult, often painful, but ultimately rewarding work of deep inner exploration. See more

I know, sweet Addie. Rainy days and Mondays always get me down, too.

Addie keeping me company while I see clients today #therapy #therapydog #healing #healingjourney #doglovers

When we run away grief or sorrow, it always follows us.We may think we have left it behind, but it is always in the background showing up as unexplained bouts of tears, or rage that comes out of seemingly nowhere.Sometimes it shows up as a loss of vitality, or a sense of deep fatigue.Better to open your arms and your heart to what you have lost, allow yourself to feel it.It may seem paradoxical, but giving your grief and sorrow acknowledgement and loving attention ope...ns the gateway for it to move through.As both a psychotherapist and a yoga teacher, I know that grief tends to live in the lungs and the heart.You may feel a heaviness in your chest when thinking about certain events, or maybe a tightening of the throat.A simple way to tend to yourself when this appears is to sit quietly with your eyes closed, and breathe deeply, beginning from the belly, and moving all the way up to your throat.Slow, steady breaths, and when the tears come, let them flow.Just as we must embrace all parts of ourselves, we must also allow all the emotions that we have carried have a place at the table. #grief #griefjourney #yogatherapy #therapy #healing #selfcare #yogapractice #dawnaltman #holistichealth #holistichealing See more

This insane black puppy is a mixture of both good and not so good.She is obstinate and listens when she feels like it.She is also smart and eager to please.She is silly and playful.She is also destructive.She is loving and affectionate, and she is also a major pain in the rear.She barks loudly when alarmed, but she also greets most with a full body hug.When she is not digging old skulls up in the yard and bringing them into the house, pulling ornaments off the C...hristmas tree, or destroying a favorite pair of sunglasses, you can usually find her nestled close to one of her people, with a heart full of love. In Jungian terms, we would call this a mix of shadow and light.This black puppy exasperates me on a daily basis, but I love her for the light that she brings with her silliness and her love.Isn’t that true about all of us?We are all a mixture of both shadow and light, qualities that we accept and feel good about, and also qualities that we are ashamed of, or want to hide from ourselves and others.It is easy to love others despite their not so wonderful qualities, but much more difficult to do so for ourselves.What if we embraced those parts of ourselves that we feel shame over?What if we decided to appreciate ALL aspects of ourselves, the good, the not so good, the light and the shadow?That anger that you are so ashamed of?Why not have a conversation with it to see what it has to say?The vulnerability that makes you feel small and incapable?How about treating it with gentleness and compassion, maybe even love?I can confidently say from both a professional and personal standpoint, your healing journey cannot be complete until ALL parts of yourself are welcome and embraced.You cannot have a deep and soulful connection with yourself until you are willing to develop a relationship with all aspects of your psyche, the good, the bad, and the ugly.A good journal prompt for pondering might be what aspects of my self do I typically hide from others, or outright reject in myself, and how might I begin to love these parts, rather than reject them? #selfcare #dogtherapy #shadowwork #shadow #internalfamilysystems #brynmawr See more

Because some days the best form of self-care is allowing yourself to spend the day sitting by the fire sipping a cappuccino with a dog nestled on your lap. #selfcare #soul #doglovers #therapy #therapydog #dawnaltmanpsychotherapyandwellness

Incredibly simple wisdom from Wayne Dyer. Give yourself a little gift today and listen to this short bit. https://m.youtube.com/watch

Choice: An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with 2 or more possibilities. Each day, we are faced with choices from the moment we wake up until the moment we lay our heads down at night. We make choices about how we start our day, what we fuel our body with, whether or not to exercise, what we take in through our eyes, our ears, and our hearts. Oftentimes, it can seem that we have no choice, that life is just what happens to us. To that I call BS with two ...hands in the air. We may not get a choice when something sad happens in our lives, but we do get to choose how we respond to it, how we grieve, and how we move forward in life. We get to choose how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how others will treat us. We get to choose how we show up for ourselves. We have the marvelous privilege of choosing happiness over sadness, a positive attitude over a negative one, an open heart over a closed one. Some of you may have had a rough early life that offered no choice to you then. But now, YOU get to choose who you are, what is important to you, who you surround yourself with, who you look up to for inspiration and guidance. Life is literally made up of endless choices. What are YOU choosing for yourself today? #healthychoices #choices#dawnaltmanpsychotherapyandwellness #choosehappiness #happinessisachoice #wellbeing #wellbeingjourney #wellnessjourney #wellness#soul See more