RITUAL THERAPY
+ elemental medicine
These holistic private guidance sessions are best suited for people experiencing major life transitions, searching for orientation and reassessing their purpose, vision, belief system, patterns, and wishes.
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Co-Creatrix of [soma+psyche], Elise Goldstein has been trained in traditional psychotherapeutic practice, energy healing, family & systemic constellation, Ericksonian hypnotherapy, intuitive listening, creative arts therapies, and "shamanic" practices through direct learning with several tribal traditions - she practices what she calls Ritual Therapy and Elemental Medicine.
During your session with her, she will explain the fundamental aspects of her medicine wheel, then use this as a compass and guide in working with you to seed change on the level of body, heart, mind and spirit.
She is a bridge. She listens deeply to all that reaches her: said and unsaid, heard and unheard, in whichever form it arrives. Sessions change based on the needs of each person, but may include expressive and creative therapies, constellation and drama therapy techniques, transpersonal psychotherapy, lifestyle or health coaching, working with dreams, archetypes, guides, and more.
Sessions almost always end with instructions for the receiver to perform a personal ritual or ceremony in nature. The session together will plant the seed; the ceremonial work after provides conditions in which that seed can take root actively, practically, observably, and sustainably in your life.
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Traditional Archetypal Analysis is also available.
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Initial sessions last 90 minutes; 60 minutes after.
Suggested donation of $120 per session
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To schedule a session, write to elise@somapsyche.org
Beliefs + Methodologies
INTUITION
Intuition is a deep listening, a listening that can be informed by- but is not based on rationality or conscious reasoning. In order to hear the voice of intuition, one must trust. Like musicians train the ear to hear and understand the movement and combination of notes and sound, one can train intuition by training trust. The greater the trust, the more subtleties of the intuitive voice can be heard and recognized. Let’s be honest. Trust isn’t easy. It requires vulnerability. It requires facing the unknown and admitting the boundary of control. To train trust requires first to remove the resistance and fear around the unknown and loss of control. What does one trust? One’s own purpose and resilience, the interconnectedness of all beings, and the significance of each and every experience and presence.
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How does this inform the session?
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My intuitive voice speaks to your intuitive voice and also to my conscious mind. I am a bridge. I share what is shared with me. Images, words, colors, questions, tasks, songs, messages, memories, requests… I listen to whatever your intuitive voice tells me, in whichever form it arrives.
ENERGY
Energy, chi, flow, life force, prana, vitality, ruah, pneuma - there are many names and many traditions surrounding the concept of the ‘energy body’. The belief is simple: a person has a physical body that can be witnessed through physical, sensorial means (touch, sight, sound, taste, smell), as well as an energetic body that can be witnessed through cultivating a different set of sensitivities often called “extra-sensory perception”. The physical body and the energetic body are in a constant state of exchange.
How does this inform the session?
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When one is fatigued, depressed, recovering from injury, trauma or disease, feeling confused or lost, or even just desiring a little boost and surge of energy, reiki can be a wonderful solution to increasing energetic charge and restoring flow. Energy needs to move freely. Water which cannot flow becomes stagnant and begins to breed bacteria, fungus, and other potentially toxic organisms - Energy is much the same. When it is flowing, it cleanses, purifies and fuels health. Reiki supports the flow of energy, promotes relaxation and creates a greater state of peace. I practice hands-on reiki which includes light touch and occasionally small movements.
GUIDANCE
It is easy to feel lost. When many conflicting options arise or the path for decision-making and action is no longer clear, it is important for everyone to feel supported. Everyone has guides, sometimes called guardians, angels, spirit animals, protectorates, inner voices. These guides have different information than your conscious mind has access to and can see life from a broader scale of perspective
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How does this inform the session?
We attempt, together, to make direct contact with your guides. We do this through trance-work and reliance on the imagination. Sometimes I work as an intermediary or translator. Sometimes I open a line for direct communication between you and your guides. Guides can also be invited if you wish to have more support in a specific area of your life. Think of these sessions as a kind of dinner party for you, me, and your ‘council’ of guides. We discuss the topics with which you are seeking clarity and direction.
PLANT ALLIES
Superfoods, herbal medicine, plant-based diets, adaptogens, tinctures, powders, supplements, local seasonal, organic, biodynamic ... it's a lot to navigate. And overwhelm is understandable. Our ancestors learned from their ancestors through storytelling and kitchen rituals and the wisdom of grandmothers. Most of us have been cut from that lineage that binds humanity to the glorious, leafy, photosynthesizing genius of plants. But -the 'honeymoon period' of pharmaceutical laboratories is coming to an end, and western post-industrial civilization is beginning to remember that the plant kingdom is full of wisdom and healing potential.
How does this inform the session?
Plants contain properties, energies and stories that can support you on your journey. In recent years, people have been reaching out to their 'spirit animals'... now it's time to invite your plant allies. Certain herbs, flowers, spices, fruits, roots, sprout, vines, weeds and even bark can become a source of incredible reassurance and understanding. If you feel called to include a plant ally in your daily life, we can open our session to our chloro-filled friends and teachers.
BALANCING
You are a complex being. You have strengths and weaknesses. There are aspects of you which rule the majority of decisions in your life and construct your understanding or interpretation of your experiences. You also have aspects that are largely ignored for any number of reasons: culture, conditioning, the way you were raised, the placement of your fears, your priorities, habits, etc. Something miraculous can happen, though, when you invite all aspects to share an equal place at the table. Balancing works on creating a space for every aspect to feel heard, seen, acknowledged, and appreciated. That doesn’t mean that you have to change the way you make decisions, but it will mean that you may have a more diverse spectrum of input or understanding to inform your choices.
How does this inform the session?
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There are many systems which are used to categorize the ‘aspects’ of a person. The chakras, the cardinal directions, the elements, archetypes and symbols - I work with all of these. We first sit and make a kind of inventory of your aspects, then we work to create a greater balance between them. We do this through dialogue and psycho-drama (giving voice and language to things formerly unexpressed). This may mean asking the stronger aspects to give more respect, value and space to those parts of you that have not been given a voice. We also work on techniques of ‘grounding’ and ‘protection’ so that all aspects have a safe space to be heard after leaving the session and reentering your daily life. Please be aware that balancing is an ongoing work and practice - for all of us.
HEALING
The physical body and energetic body are conjoined facets of every person. If there is damage to one, there is damage to both. This implies that healing which addresses only one is not holistically (and therefore sustainably) effective. Both the physical body and the energetic body have the natural means to heal themselves with correct support and conditions. But like one might go to see a doctor, use diet and exercise, take medicine or undergo rehabilitative methods of physical healing from injury, trauma or disease - one can also receive support for the energy body. Energetic healing works particularly well as an additional or complimentary support for those in medical, allopathic or psychiatric treatment. It calms the inner ‘alarm’ system out of the state of emergency so often felt during times of illness or recovery. The focus is commonly on issues of inflammation, circulation and restoring hormonal/neuro-chemical balance.
How does this inform the session?
When your body has been affected by distressing circumstances, you need comfort. Healing work supplies your physical and energetic body with attention, awareness, gratitude, but most importantly, compassion. It is an energetic conversation with the physical body or psyche in which the energetic body is repaired and restored in order to support physical or psychological healing and treatment.
Elise's Credentials
"My life is a laboratory for creating conditions of discovery, insight, empathy and understanding. I revel in the pure, simple delight of experimentation, both profound and mundane. I began my journey with a self-designed advanced degree at New York University in 'Intra-Personal Communication', the study of how we speak to ourselves. Shortly after, I committed to developing my skills of communication with all other beings, places, things, and impulses... otherwise known as 'intuition.'
I initially established my practice in psychotherapeutic techniques, and later turned to art as a means to create interactive, cathartic experiences for myself and others. I have worked as a reiki master, hypnotherapist, sexual health activist, university literature professor and writer, in addition to my former life as an internationally exhibiting performance artist and researcher. Now I focus on the most direct and unmediated form of transformation I know: listening.
I believe that conscious transformation is the key to inviting magic into one’s experience of the world."
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Elise holds a Bachelor of Arts in Intra-Personal Communication (Critical Theory and Creative Practices), a Post-Baccalaureate in Interactive Installation, a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Performance Art, a Post Graduate Research Degree in Performance, Sceno-graphic Studies and Dramaturgy. Additionally, she is a certified health coach, a certified hypnotherapist, a certified reiki-master, has worked as a group therapist for inpatient psychiatric care and outpatient crisis intervention treatment, and has trained extensively in creative arts and expressive therapies. More recently, she has turned to teaching, workshop facilitation, and space-holding.
