“My hands and words help the client traverse the territory between the 
sensations in the body and feeling states in the mind, between conscious and
 unconscious, between the language of the body and the language of the mind.”- Jack

Your First Session
Whether you are coming for bodywork, counseling, or spiritual direction or some combination of each, it is important to get to know your history and your relationship with your body. Jack will interview you about what you perceive is going on in your body, how that relates to what is occurring in your life, and the treatment or inner goals you want to pursue. During this interview process Jack will outline the approaches he offers and spend some time helping you decide how you want to proceed. If you have come for bodywork, you will be given an intake form to complete. He will also have you do some simple movements, like walking, to observe patterns that reflect any movement limitations. During this time he may also palpate different muscle groups and connective tissue around joints. He will propose and explain a treatment plan for you, answer your questions, and outline your role as receiver and participant.

Treatment Options
Jack is skilled in several different bodywork and healing modalities including: Trager®, Reiki, and craniosacral. Jack is also a Certified Spiritual Director, Registered Counselor and Focusing Trainer. Jack teaches various personal development tools like Trager Mentastics®, the Enneagram, Presencing techniques, journaling, and Focusing. Each modality offers a unique approach to healing by addressing physical, mental, and spiritual difficulties that create fear and doubt, pain, stress, and injury. Together you and Jack will determine which method or combination of methods will best meet your needs.

Frequency of Treatments
How often you receive sessions will depend on a number of factors unique to you: your specific treatment needs and goals, your wish to grow in body-centered awareness, your intention to create a viable inner life, your financial priorities, and scheduling arrangements. Over the years, Jack has learned that clients who come at regular intervals (e.g. weekly, bi-weekly) experience the greatest benefits from this work. Jack will present you with several options, but you will decide what schedule works best for you.

During Your Session
Naturally, each person’s experience of this work is different, but here is some general
information that you may find helpful.

Clothing for Bodywork
You are free to decide what you want to wear during your session. If you are receiving a combination of bodywork and counseling it is often timesaving to not do a clothing change in the middle of the session. Bodywork can be more effective when the client wears undergarments or a swimsuit. During a session, your body is covered at all times with a sheet and towels, except for the area being worked. You may also wear loose and comfortable clothing. Stiff or slippery clothing limits the benefits to you.

Moment-to-Moment Interaction and Presencing
All of your sessions will include verbal and kinesthetic interaction with Jack. He will gently guide you into your body, and request your active engagement and verbal descriptions of what you are feeling. Jack will teach you Focusing and other body-centered tools to help you develop more bodily awareness or somatesthesia. One aspect of Jack’s approach to healing is to give you tools that will help you stay present throughout your day. This presencing can help you feel more clarity and peacefulness in your mind and body. Jack has found that when clients are directly involved in the healing process through body awareness, profound changes can occur that change their relationship: to their pain, their bodies, and their lives.

Painless
Whether you receive bodywork and or counseling, Jack offers a pain free approach to your symptoms. His work is designed to help you change your relationship to pain. One way of doing this is to keep you present in your body. When Jack is using his hands the touch you feel should not create any additional discomfort. In places where you are already feeling discomfort, Jack will carefully guide you into the pain. As this is occurring he will use supportive words, Reiki, positional release, and or tactile stimulation such as tapping to accompany your experience. Jack has found that these methods help the client learn to use the symptoms of discomfort as tools for presencing and self-discovery; and this can result in a shift from pain to joyfulness.

Emotional material
Clients can experience different emotions throughout their sessions. As clients become more kinesthetically aware, emotional material can surface from the unconscious mind. Releases of tension during bodywork, may lead to the release of emotions.  Just like Jack’s approach to pain, learning to stay present to the emotions allows clients to enter the richness of the unconscious through those emotional doorways. Once again, body-centered awareness in combination with Jack’s supportive words and or touch, can help you overcome the fear and discomfort of emotional releases. The body offers us gentle, affirmative ways of feeling our emotions without being overwhelmed by them. Learning to attend to these experiences can truly transform our lives.  You are welcome to express your feelings or talk to Jack about your experiences.

After your Session
Jack will leave the room and allow you a few minutes to relax and absorb the effects of the session. Jack will discuss the session with you and any changes you are experiencing. He will suggest some homework in order to maintain and enlarge upon the effects of your session. This homework can include suggested readings, films, personal retreats, self-discovery tools like the enneagram, journal writing,  body-mind awareness techniques like Trager Mentastics® and self Focusing, or specific practices like presencing and meditation for spiritual growth. He may also suggest a session schedule for you to consider.