At Alternative Therapy STL, I see the therapeutic path as a path of personal and spiritual growth.
You may have seen the above symbol in my logo and wondered what it means. It is derived from a “unalome,” which is an ancient symbol thought to be of Buddhist or Vedic origin. It is designed to symbolize our personal and spiritual path from suffering to enlightenment, because the path of growth and healing is never linear, straight, or perfect.
The unalome begins at the center of a spiral to indicate the origin of life and the “programming” we receive from our upbringing. Then, it shows the twists and turns of life, which symbolize our wandering, missteps, unlearning, and new learning as we create our own lives by gaining awareness and deciding who we want to be.
Eventually, the path begins to straighten out from the loops, showing how we get closer and closer to the conscious and whole people we are called to be, until we reach the dot, which symbolizes enlightenment, the end of life, or the completion of the journey. The classic symbol points only one way, but my graphic designer designed this unalome to point 4 ways, to symbolize the many directions our lives may take.
This symbol is the perfect depiction of what I hope to offer others with my work. To me, the paths of healing, personal growth, and spirituality are one and the same. I believe the world is a school. Everything is meant for our learning (or unlearning). And the obstacle is the way. By working through our unhealed wounds, burdens, patterns of behavior, layers of protection, and unhelpful ways of being and transforming them, we are walking the spiritual path.
This is a radical departure from how we typically see mental health issues as diseases or illnesses. We can instead look at our relationship issues, career confusion, anxiety, sadness, and other sufferings not as diseases to be eradicated, but as guideposts pointing us to what we need to heal in order to grow into our highest selves. This is the journey I love helping people walk.
The clients who get the most out of therapy sessions with me are able to hold a similar viewpoint. By adopting this viewpoint of "the world as a school" and life experiences as teachings, this helps you de-personalize from your patterns and hold them with compassionate curiosity, seeing every experience as a potential opportunity for growth.
If you're ready to embark along the path, submit your interest for an initial session here.
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