The Therapeutic MilieuWelcoming, Presence, Communication

Sacred Space What does a warm and welcoming

therapeutic space look like?

How does a space invite safety, intimacy, peace, solace?

What is the intention of the space?

VisuallyWhat is a warm and welcoming and therapeutic color for a therapeutic space?

What kinds of things does one have in a therapeutic space?

What about the objects or the art or the kind of things included in a healing space?

Auditorily• What kinds of sounds are conducive to

creating a therapeutic space?

• What kinds of sounds do you want you clients to hear?

• How can you create • those sounds?

Kinesthetically• What kind of feelings, internal sense do you

want to create with your space? ….safety, calmness, solace, privacy, intimacy, openness, joy, happiness…other thoughts?

• What kinds of touch awareness do you want to have your clients experience?... Cozy afghans, smooth and silky, rough and wooly….

• What if anything do you want to have available for your clients to hold…???

Olfactory & Gustatory• Smells and Tastes…. • What kinds of aromas do you want?• Aromatherapy???• What kinds of tastes…• types of beverages• light snacks…???

Dwelling What does it mean to dwell with another? To dwell or abide with yourself? How can you create stillness in a hurried

world?

A Time for Stillness

To breath deeply

To collect yourself

To dwell comfortably with your thoughts

To dwell with your own inner feeling state

To ask for guidance and the openness to receive it

To reconnect to your own deeper knowing and inner wisdom, and sense of the profound and vast

Full PresenceWhat does it mean to being fully present to another? Honoring the other person as a

“Sacred Being”

Honoring the “Therapeutic Relationship” as an “Intimate, Sacred Relationship”

Full Presence means… Stepping out of our everyday world of natural attitudes

Bracketing all presuppositions, judgments, basic assumptions,

Inviting yourself … out of the world of distractions … everyday concerns… involvements….AND…

Into a world of being fully awake, aware, focused, open, truly, to “ the otherness of the other”

Why? For what purpose… In order to hear what is in their heart and

on their mind To understand what they are carrying To receive what they are offering To embrace and hold another’s life story In a way that honors

human integrity, courage, strength & human perseverance, creativity…and passion

Listening with presence• Listen with open ears and eyes• Listen with interest and curiosity• Listen into their story• Listen for their struggle• Listen for their hope• Listen for their emotional state• Listen into their relationships• Listen into what they say that lies

beneath their words

Sacred CommunicationWe are alive in our words. Each word a person speaks is offered as a part

of them which reflects an inner world

To honor/respect another is to honor/respect their words, their utterances which shed light into their many worlds

Words are the way a person symbolic represents themselves

Words convey the meaning and significance of any human experience.

Sacred Communication It is the work of the therapist/counselor …

To learn how to listen into the experience of another

To Listen accurately

To apprehend or take up the words of another… in exactly the way the other presented them.

To hold the words of the other in a sacred way

We live in languageHow we speak…What words we choose…How we phrase our sentences…our emphasis…

All convey a message about…Who we are…Where we come from… How we grew up…What we learned…How we understand ourselves…Our sense of self…Our emotional state

We live in languageOur words hold us…Words hold our meaning…

our feelings…our thoughts…our attitudes…our values…our beliefs

our cares and concerns…our fears and trepidations…our triumphs and defeats

Re - Iteration…1st stepRe…iteration…is a process of

taking up the words of another in a carful and concernful way…

AND then…offering their words back to the

person as “gift”

Reiteration: an act of mutuality

As an act of mutuality… The other offers themselves to you

through their words You listen, take their words into your

being, And then honoringly offer them back

after care-filled consideration

Re - IterationThe sacred act of Reiteration is truly a gift.

“Bene-Diction” ( Latin) “Good Speak”

Basic language form for counselors in order to have a foundation from which to communicate

The Gift…to be really heardMany people have been hurt, shut out, misunderstood, not noticed, ignored,devalued, discounted in their everyday lives.

To be truly heard and listened to is not only a great gift from therapist to client… but a valued corrective measure… a healing for our clients

Gift…to therapistOpportunity to… Slow Down Listen care-filledly Communicate with accuracy

To be gentle/nurturing with her/himself… and the client’s selfWith practice, Reiteration becomes a therapeutic tool to be relied upon

When out of words… “Always Re-Iterate!”