Who am I and what do I bring to this work? I'm Crystal (she/her), I'm an artist, listener, and community builder. I've been a peer group facilitator for almost 10 years, supporting people through many of life's transitions through group work. Many of the tools I bring to group work were developed through my own mental health journey and through deconstruction of 30 years inside Christian evangelical fundamentalism. After years of my religious experience and the broader culture telling me not to listen to my intuition, I began to work with tarot/oracle cards to nurture my intuitive nature. As I navigated moving through and out of a season of deep depression, I started using art journaling to explore my feelings and work on letting go of perfectionism. I have extensively studied - both self study, and community courses - and personally practice or use: Hakomi, mindfulness, social justice/anti-racism/human liberation work, trauma and trauma informed practices, somatics, Internal Family Systems (IFS or "parts work"), therapeutic art, neurological and nervous system theory. What I have discovered is that we as humans are inherently wise, capable, creative, and deeply intuitive; that we live in systems that benefit from these inherent skills and tools being "forgotten" or "buried"; and that with support and intention we can uncover and rediscover all the ways that we can move ourselves toward wholeness and healing. I deeply believe in the power of human attention and in each person's unique, autonomous journey in discovering themselves. I believe community care is self-care and vice versa. I believe that we as humans are powerful self-healers, and that healing in community can be a meaningful and impactful experience. I have seen that cultivating creativity, and learning to hold space for my emotions has allowed me to step more deeply into social justice and anti-racism work. I choose to live out my values by creating spaces where we can bring all of these threads together in service of our personal and community healing. I see myself as a peer facilitator, constantly learning and growing right alongside the folks who choose to do these groups with me. Read more about my training and my work here.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorIt's me, Crystal. I need a place to put all my extra words. Archives
March 2023
Categories |