The Person of the Therapist Video Series
In “The Person of the Therapist” series, Dr. Dee Preston-Dillon interviews therapists–from new clinicians to the most seasoned–about who they are, their wisdom, and what they value. Dr. Dee partners with therapists for rich discussions of approaches to therapy, pathways toward competency, and deep dives into therapists’ diverse experiences.
Empathy and Trust with Jessica Prentice
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Jessica Prentice, RPT-S, LCSW-C. Jessica is a clinical social worker, supervisor, and play therapist in Maryland. She works with families and children (as young as three), in addition to supporting interns and burgeoning clinicians in her supervisory role.
Hope and the Power of Expressive Arts with Dr. Yehuda Bergman
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Dr. Yehuda Bergman, a mental health professional in Baltimore. He is the developer of “Tikkun Trauma Therapy,” a psychoactive treatment for trauma victims utilizing expressive arts.
Relationship and Presence with Cat and Ash Denham
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Catherine and Alisha Denham, who are both experienced clinical social workers (LCSW) as well as play therapist supervisors (RPT-S). A married couple, together they also run their own business, Momma Owl Minis, through which they sell their handmade symbols for sand therapy.
Hana Perkey on Humility and Creativity
Dr. Dee speaks with Hana Perkey, LPC. Hana is a seasoned therapist, trauma specialist, counselor educator, and artist. They discuss Hana’s path to becoming a therapist, humility, creativity, educating and supporting burgeoning therapists, and Hana’s experience with immersion in symbol work.
Authenticity and Immersion with Michele Putini
Dr. Dee speaks with Michele Putini, LMFT–seasoned therapist, supervisor, and owner of Be Authentic Family Therapy in Upland, California. They discuss Michele’s path toward becoming a therapist, creativity, authenticity, symbol activation, and the power of therapist immersion.
Trusting Intuition and Investing in Intellect with Mariam Qahtani
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Mariam Qahtani, LGPC, LAC, NCC. Mariam is a clinical mental health counselor. She works with children, adolescents, and their parents at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Connecting with Children and Learning from Life with Taylor Lake
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with child and family therapist, Taylor Lake, LCPC, NCC. Taylor is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor at a Youth Services Bureau in Maryland. She works with families and children (as young as three) individually and in groups.
Dr. Dee and Taylor discuss empathy, connection, and allowing ourselves to learn from our professional and life experiences outside of being therapists, and to bring that wisdom gleaned into the professional role as a therapist. They talk about heart, openness and boundaries, the importance of fun, and the ways children get baggage put upon them–and how therapists who work with children can attend to this.
As usual in this series, Dr. Dee invites Taylor to share symbols that resonate with her experience as a therapist, and Taylor shares who she is, what she values, stories of learning from clients, and how she would change therapist education.
Dr. Mina Barimany on Innovation and Moments of Coming Full Circle
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with therapist and educator, Mina Barimany, MFT, LPC, PhD. Dr. Barimany is a seasoned clinician who began her career in marriage and family therapy, before becoming a practicing counselor, counselor educator, supervisor, and founding her own Washington, DC private practice, Frog Point Therapy (https://frogpointtherapy.com/).
Here, Dr. Dee and Dr. Barimany discuss truly Seeing (“with a capital ‘S’”)/experiencing the moment, meta-awareness, and deep presence. They talk about innovation and risk–including how intentional risk pays off in the therapy room–in individual and group work. Dr. Barimany shares her background and why she was drawn to become a counselor, supervisor, and educator, as well as found her practice. She and Dr. Dee discuss therapists’ own authentic selves, therapist wounding and growth, and recurring moments of coming full circle, both personally and professionally.
On Death, Depth and Meaning with Jesse Fairchild
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Jesse Fairchild, LCPC, NCC, CCTP, CCISM, Psychotherapist and Founder of Bodhi Counseling in Maryland, on depth, presence, death and what we are missing in clinical training.
Jesse is a seasoned clinician and clinical supervisor who integrates psychodynamic psychotherapy with contemplative sensibilities of compassion, deep empathic presence, and a respect for the client’s intuitive inner wisdom for healing. Jesse shares her own early developmental experiences with the loss of others through disease and suicide, the suicide of clients, and her own experience with near death.
Presence, Spontaneity, Authenticity, Vulnerability with Tim Mewmaw
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with psychotherapist Tim Mewmaw on the importance of therapists’ lifelong immersion in their own personal therapy.
Tim values a deep Rogerian approach, emphasizing empathy, presence, and resonance with client experience. Tim gives several examples of lessons he has learned from clients. In one example, Tim shares about the transformation with couples when using symbols to facilitate psychoeducation. Demonstrating how the figures bring attention to the inner child of each partner, shamed, angry, fearful, waiting to be heard and seen.
Narrative Sand Therapy Conversations Video Series
How can partnering with symbols help therapists–and everyone else–access self-awareness and deep resonance? What is symbol activation–and how can it foster to healing and empowerment? What about process hypnosis and the therapeutic use of metaphor? How does venturing down this path into the imagination serve our individual and collective wellbeing?
Trusting Intuition and Investing in Intellect with Mariam Qahtani
In this episode, Dr. Dee speaks with Mariam Qahtani, LGPC, LAC, NCC. Mariam is a clinical mental health counselor. She works with children, adolescents, and their parents at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Dr. Dee and Mariam discuss therapists’ own intuition, creativity, open curiosity, multi-dimensional listening, and intellectual pursuits, and how these enable therapists’ resonance with clients. They talk about embracing silence, reading, and authenticity, their thoughts on transformative counselor education, and working with symbols, and Dr. Dee guides Mariam in activating two symbols. Mariam shares insight and stories from her clinical work with children, her cultural, personal and professional background, and Dr. Dee invites her to share in her native tongue, Arabic.
Partnering with Symbols with Sarah Hoops
What happens when symbols hold stories for clients, and what does it mean for healing? How do we responsibly resonate with clients using symbols, without imposing our own interpretations or projections? What does cultivating a practice of symbol activation and resonance in daily life look like? Here, Dr. Dee Preston-Dillon, creator of Narrative Sand Therapy, and Sarah Hoops, LGPC, explore how symbol activation in therapy and in life can be a deeply meaningful and powerful path to connection, resonance, and honoring of the stories and selves of clients, therapists, and community members.