from Psychotherapy
to Connection
The cornerstones of our healing model:
*Healing implies a change in your relationship with yourself, not with a psychotherapist.
*Psychotherapy is not different from other types of learning. One needs a friendly environment to practice newly acquired skills.
*An approach to healing that is instrumental in learning a particular style (language) of self-expression is sometimes (but not always) more efficient than a more generic approach to healing.
Labs of Awareness is a positive psychology, non-crisis support center for individuals who prefer the adventure of self-observation over more traditional forms of psychotherapy, or for those for whom a sense of well-being is less conditioned by mental health symptom management.
The center's goal is to help people reconnect with their sense of flow and creativity, which are always accessible, no matter what you do—or do not do. With us, you can continue to grieve and brainstorm as you would in more traditional forms of psychotherapy, but you can also explore new activities and build completely new habits, all while sitting on the same old psychotherapy couch (or having a Zoom session).
Although our services are designed for people who are not working through acute stages of trauma, the approach we take is trauma-sensitive and attuned to many different forms of past experiences. Knowing that flow is always at your fingertips can immediately alleviate many of life's troubles, especially those influenced by addiction and neglect.
How does it work in practice?
1. Our coordinator introduces you to available modalities and learning paradigms.
2. A first session with each of our practitioners is free.
3. Once you become part of our community, you can use our non-crisis resolution services.
Read on to learn about the differences between our approach and more traditional forms of psychotherapy:
Non-crisis support caters to a person's sense of connection to themselves and the greater whole. Crisis support primarily and almost exclusively addresses flare-like symptomatology, often serving more as a medical intervention or crutch rather than a transformative process.
Non-crisis support is attuned to depression, anxiety, and grief, but addresses these states in a non-direct way, without hyper-focusing on perceived causes and conditions typical of acute distress. Crisis support helps people in acute states of depression, anxiety, and grief.
Non-crisis support offers activities and small adventures to enhance creativity, which you have always wanted to explore. Crisis support provides advice and direct guidance on breathwork, touch, thought patterns, and perception modes.
The outcome of non-crisis support is a flow state enriched by new, mindful connections. The result of crisis support is a calmer state of mind.
Non-crisis support helps you create and sustain new, helpful habits. Crisis support leaves the creation of new habits outside the scope of treatment.
The responder on the non-crisis support line is a trained psychotherapist with years of experience in conventional psychotherapy. Their presence can be felt in everything they do—from meditation to analytical problem-solving—demonstrating that there is no limit to the human activities that can serve as a container for emotional healing. The responder on the crisis-support line is an anonymous individual.
Non-crisis support may be logistically different from crisis support. In non-crisis support, there is no need for a full 50-minute psychotherapy session. You can call us for as much time as you need, and often, just 10 minutes is enough to enter a state of flow and start feeling unconditionally good.
Examples of learning we support:
Psychotherapy
Somatic awareness
Art Therapy
Movement and Dance
Improvisation (vocal, verbal, and movement)
Crafts
Mathematical and analytical thinking
Supervised interactions with animals
Creation of personal rituals for self-acceptance and transcendence
Memory integration
Guidance of workshops in the role of a teacher
and more…
Our healing model grew out of a blend of diverse philosophical approaches:
Positive Psychology, Gestalt Therapy, Medicinal Theatre, Somatic Psychotherapy, Authentic Relating, Mindfulness, and more…
We believe that the process of healing is an ever-evolving experimental endeavor facilitated by a seeker himself/herself.
We hope that instead of following someone else’s healing games and rituals, you can learn to devise your own healing ceremonies.
If you are interested in finding out what kind of speaker, listener, problem-solver, dancer, cook, artist, or collaborator you are, this is a place for you. The only two things required for your participation are your desire to experiment and a belief that by helping others, you are helping yourself, as well as the other way around.
Berkeley, California
Monday–Thursday
12pm–7pm
Friday–Sunday
Upon Request
