Jessica Wolk

What is Experiential Psychotherapy? Experiential psychotherapy involves focused attention on what is happening while my client and I are together in our sessions. While I welcome clients to tell their stories, histories, and important aspects of life, I also invite them to become aware of their experience as they are sharing with me. By tuning into information from the five senses — body sensations, gestures, breath, emotions, eye contact, etc. — my clients and I glean significant and often transformative information about core patterns, beliefs, and ways of relating. How Does This Help? Many of us have learned that our difficult feelings are not OK to share with others. Because of this, we create strategies that allow us to stay in relationship while we simultaneously shut down parts of ourselves — parts we believe may threaten our connection with others. These strategies often cause rigid patterns to develop, limiting our personalities and relationship styles. Current neuroscience research supports the plasticity of the brain — essentially the ability of the brain to change, even after decades of patterning such as this. Positive changes in the brain are supported by new, fresh experiences of sharing oneself in the caring presence of another. ​ Experiential psychotherapy provides exposure to care and love where once there was unwanted aloneness. At first, this experience may seem strange or uncomfortable, as most of us are not accustomed to being cared for in our most lonely places. Over time, as we learn that we will not be hurt, manipulated or dismissed when we share our feelings, we find greater access to freedom, self-expression, core relaxation, and internal kindness. I am a Level III AEDP therapist. AEDP stands for Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy and is the orientation from which I approach these core experiences — feelings, changing the brain, and a felt sense of connection. To learn more about AEDP, visit www.aedpinstitute.org. I welcome folks to contact me for a 20-minute call to discover if my work would be a good fit for your needs.