Derek has been working as a mentor, guide, and therapist since 1995. Derek combined his deep passion for helping others along with his knowledge of experiential process to create Reach.
The philosophy of Reach is grounded in the idea that healing occurs within relationship. This might be the relationship between therapist and client, parent and child, or adult partners. We draw from the clinical practice of Gestalt Therapy, the tenets of Experiential Learning, the wisdom of Body-Psychology and the power of Earth-based practices for the foundations of change.
Core concepts in our approach to therapy include: Presence and Awareness, Here and Now, Personal Responsibility, Active Engagement, and Willingness to Discover.
Presence and Awareness is being fully “tuned in” to yourself and others. This allows you to be fully in the moment with all of your emotions, thoughts, and sensations. Through presence and dialogue there is a co-created opportunity to be ‘seen’ resulting in understanding and healing.
Here and Now focus uses presence and awareness to explore your “unfinished business” from the past and your hopes and anxieties of the future. From this present place you are able to unburden the past, experiment with new ways of being, and authentically commit to spontaneous and excited living!
Personal Responsibility means in the most primitive, existential way you are responsible for yourself. This doesn’t allow space to blame others for our life circumstance, to deflect personal action to someone else, to make someone else responsible for our lives. Rather this is an inspiring and powerful idea that we can CHOOSE and be EMPOWERED to direct our lives. “Your life… your choice…”
Active Engagement indicates you cannot “not participate”. You bring whatever resource, motivation, and attitude that you could possibly bring in any given moment. You will be encouraged to tune in to where you are stuck in a pattern or an impasse, you will be challenged and supported to actively engage in your life in a new manner to make profound healing shifts!
Willingness to Discover allows us to step into the opportunities that allow for the ‘ah ha’ moments. Moments of insight, moments of profound awareness, moments of change, moments of resolve and commitment, moments of brilliant clarity, moments of passionate self-love, moments of reconciliation, moments of forgiveness, moments of growth, moments of connection, moments of …!
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. – Charles Du Bois