I would like to suggest that there is no right way.
There are different ways, and each way has advantages and disadvantages.
Sometimes I use touch, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I work with clients who know each other, sometimes I don’t.
When I asked one of my supervisors, David Boadella, what contract he had with his clients, he answered “which client and when?”
The creative process does not work according to any standard formula. Flexibility is the key.
If we really care about our clients; if helping our clients is more important to us than an allegiance to any particular theory, point of view, School or Association, then surely we will be willing to use whichever method or combination of methods works best.
Techniques are to be used in the service of our clients, not the other way around.
When techniques, or allegiance to a particular theoretical orientation, belief system or Association, become more important to us than the wellbeing of our clients, the problems begin. That is when the likelihood of abuse is greatest.
The best safeguards against abuse are integrity and awareness, and these are not the property of any particular school, professional association, method or point of view.
That’s why I believe that by far the most important and indeed essential part of a therapist’s professional training is their own personal therapy.
In my work as a therapist and educator, I do not assume that I know what is right for my clients. Only you know what is right for you. Only you can experience your own reality.
My task is to help co-create a safe space, using the most effective methods that I know, to enable you to find your own answers and your own unique path to emotional, mental and physical health, wellbeing and fulfillment..
Donald Marmara created Core Development , a learning process which acknowledges the unity and inter-relationships of mind, body, emotions and spirit.
It draws on the principles and understanding of somatic psychotherapy, structural dynamics, and Donald’s own personal therapy, professional training and life experience.
Core development adopts a flexible approach, recognising that what works for one person may not work for another.
Donald currently resides and practices in Sydney, and is available for individual sessions, couples sessions, counselling teenagers and parents, and facilitating training programs and workshops. He is also available for Zoom and phone sessions worldwide.
He can be contacted on 0412 178 234.