Psychotherapist incorporates principals of Buddhism and compassion
By Karen Wallace
Redstone Review
LYONS – From birth to death, life presents many transitions; local psychotherapist, Kelly Taylor Russell recognizes that these transitions can be difficult and complicated and she has built her career around helping her clients deal with those challenges.
Kelly Taylor Russell has moved her psychotherapy practice to her home office in Lyons. Russell’s work is centered on the transitions that people go through in life.
Russell was raised in the Chicago area where she began her study of mental illness and the way that other cultures deal with the mind. It was this interest that brought her to Boulder and the Naropa University in 2005 where she studied and ultimately completed the contemplative psychotherapy program. According to Russell, the Naropa program “trains its students to be of better benefit to the world; it is infused with Western psychology and the ideals of Buddhism, including learning how to meditate, increasing the awareness of one’s own mind and self, and looking at habitual brain patterns to be more present for others.”
Russell has taken the fundamentals of her experience at Naropa and incorporated them into her practice. She works to help her clients cultivate compassion and strives to create peace and calmness within the self, “much like a mother stays with an inconsolable baby by dropping her self to nurture the baby.”
In Russell’s practice the relationship between the therapist and patient is one of loving kindness and gentleness. Buddhism encourages this self acceptance and Russell uses this in her practice. “Western philosophy can be about beating ourselves up, where my practice allows for experiences to happen then I help clients take out the ridicule and accept their experience. From there change can happen.”
Russell has been practicing in the Boulder and Denver areas for the past four years. She moved to Lyons a year ago and is excited to be practicing in her home office at 181-A Second Ave. in the Lyons Valley Village co-housing development. Russell’s work is centered on the transitions that people go through in life. Typical clients are dealing with stresses related to relationships, childbirth, aging family members, and death.
Even children can have difficult times and Russell recognizes the sensitivity needed in addressing their issues. “A lovely way to help a child communicate is through the use of sand play,” says Russell. “I use a tray filled with sand and give children the opportunity to create their own world using manipulatives, such as animals, trees, houses, etc. They literally have hundreds of manipulatives to work with. This play can be a reflection of the unconscious, leaving a mark, much like a dream. Kids love it, and in addition to its therapeutic value, the sand play serves as a way to open dialogue. This is not just useful for children, but many adults find this form of therapy comforting.”
Russell does not take insurance but works with her clients to develop fees based on income. For more information on Russell’s practice, please call 303-579-5536.
Karen Wallace is a freelance writer and photographer who lives with her family in Lyons.
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May 27th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Anna,
While I can appreciate the benefits of therapies such as CBT and EMDR, which are widely recognized as evidence-based psychotherapies, I do not believe that to dismiss all other modes of therapy is necessary. CBT and EMDR are therapies which, by their nature, are easy to study and fit into a scientific method of inquiry. Definite changes can be measured in a client’s thinking and I value what benefit these therapies offer.
At the same time, I want to point out that while sandplay and play therapy may not fit into the model of CBT and EMDR and other so-called ‘evidence-based treatments,’ I do still believe that they are valuable.
I think we come from different perspectives. I believe that healing shifts in the unconscious happen through psychodynamic, sandplay and play therapies; that one’s relationship with their therapist can be healing in itself; that play is the language of children; that the mystery and divinity in each of our healing processes need not be backed up by science. The healing may not be objectively measurable, but it is real. Working on the surface with one’s thoughts, as in CBT, is without a doubt helpful and may lead to deeper healing. I choose to work at a deeper level with the unconscious and the habitual patterns of mind and body.
It is not true that sandplay and play therapy have no evidence to support them. If you would like me to point you to studies that have been done, I would be happy to share those with you.
I believe in what I do and I also understand that parents may want to have a form of therapy for their child that is backed by science. To each her own.
May 25th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
There are many forms of psychotherapy that are based on science and have been shown to be affective in treating childhood disorders. Unfortunately, sand play and other play therapies have no evidence in support of their effectiveness. Parents who are interested in pursuing psychotherapeutic treatments for their children should learn more at http://www.effectivechildtherapy.com. Childhood psychological disorders are serious and deserve to be treated with therapies that have withstood the same rigorous clinical trials that you would expect from a treatment for a physical ailment.